"Religion like Atheism has turned its back on the Truth in exchange for dogmatic lies!"
John 3:3
"Jesus replied to Nicodemus, "I can guarantee this truth: No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above."
I don't know what it is about simple truth that sparks in man his brain-dead ideas of dead religion.
It's almost like we think God was feeble minded and didn't know just how to communicate about faith in himself so we thought we'd help by filtering out what WE think works and what doesn't.......sound "Bone Headed?"
Did you get that?
There is NO WAY to please God outside exactly what Jesus said here:
"...being born from heaven."
That's right, being BORN AGAIN is the ONLY way to ever get to heaven when you die...period, NO good works, NO baptism, NO religious practices of ANY KIND can save you from yourself.
Are you REALLY saved?
Why WASTE your life just being a Copy of a Copy of what God wants?
There is a problem in the “church” of today!
1.) The divorce rate is higher in the “church” than it is in the world.
2.) Adultery abounds in the church.
3.) Pre-marital sex is the norm.
4.) Pregnant teens and unwed mothers flourish in the “church.”
There is a reason for this problem:
The gospel that the modern ”church” teaches is not the one that our Messiah taught.
Our current theology has strayed far from that of the believers of the first century.
In order to understand where our doctrines are wrong, we must examine what our Messiah originally taught and see if the apostles’ doctrine lined up with this.
If the Messiah and the apostles agree, it should be obvious that it is the modern “church” and it’s theology that is in error.
The first doctrine that Jesus taught was repentance.
Mark 1:14-15"Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel."
Matthew 4:17"From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
This was the message that John the Baptist had taught.
Matthew 3:1-2
"In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
This is also the same message that Peter preached when Pentecost had fully come.
Acts 2:38
"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
Peter did not lead them in a sinners’ prayer, funny how there's NOT ONE sinners prayer in the bible....WHY?
Well for one thing, God saves many different people in a multitude of different ways in scripture and not once does he require a certain prayer to come in.
God ONLY requires FAITH from the heart which connects to heaven FASTER THAN WE CAN EVER PRAY WORDS!
The prayer is NOT wrong it's simply not required to be saved....just faith in God!
Just saying “I’m sorry” was not the gospel.
Repentance was still the first step in the gospel of the New Covenant, and to repent meant to completely TURN AROUND from your previous life and go to God in HIS direction.
The only difference in the New Testament was that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been added which began in John 20.
In studying the balance of scripture, we can see that Peter was not teaching water baptism for the remission of sins but repentance for the remission of sins.
This is the first step in the salvation process.
In order to understand this doctrine of repentance, we must first understand how the bible defines ”sin.” We will first look at Paul’s insights.
Romans 3:20
"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."
Romans 7:7
"What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law:"
Paul tells us that it is God’s law that is our gauge to reveal sin. John affirms this understanding.
1 John 3:4
"Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law."
In other words, Peter was telling the people to STOP VIOLATING GOD’S LAW AND TURN COMPLETELY TO GOD THROUGH HIS MESSIAH.
The physical picture of this spiritual decision was water baptism.
The modern “church” has taught that God’s law was a curse and that it has been done away with, nailed to the cross. As a result, gross sin is now more rampant in the “church” than it is in the world.
Is this the gospel that Jesus and the apostles taught? We will examine this in more depth later in this article.
Next, let’s look at Jesus’ doctrine of being “born again.”
John 3:1-5
"There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 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. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 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. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
To be "Born Again" has NOTHING to do with a Church dogma, this is the ticket to Heaven we are referring too not some churches membership.
This is not a man-made doctrine or simple knowledge of doctrine, it is God's way to the Next life and must not be DIMINISHED by religion the way it has been!
Was Jesus making up a new doctrine or was He referring to the original bible
(what we have erroneously called the “old testament” as if it didn't belong to the New Testament somehow)?
He was of course referring to the bible.
As we will see, the water represents the physical repentance and obedience. Being born of the Spirit is God putting His Spirit within us. Pay very close attention as to the reason that God gives for putting His Spirit within us.
Ezekiel 36:25-27
"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. "
This first verse that speaks of the cleansing water refers back to God’s law in Numbers 19:1-13 which describes God’s commandments concerning the Red Heifer and the cleansing water that is made with its’ ashes. There is no apparent logical reason for this.
This represents obedience by faith.
The reason God gives for putting His Spirit in us was to transform our stony hearts into flesh, to change our spiritual nature into one of wanting to do God’s will.
This is what Paul is referring to in Philippians 2:12-13. "Now God is helping us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling by giving us the desire and the ability to do His good pleasure."
What is His good pleasure?
This last verse in Ezekiel tells us. God has empowered us to walk in His statutes, and to keep His judgments, TO DO THEM.
What are these statutes and judgments?
Jeremiah gives us the answer. Jeremiah 31:31-33
"Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. "
God’s law is what He said He would write on our hearts. God’s law is the statutes and judgments we are empowered to now keep. We have been told that nobody can keep God’s law.
This is not what the bible teaches. Jesus’ teaching of the “born again” experience was already outlined in the prophets.
What about the gospel of salvation that Paul taught?
Was it a new doctrine or was it from the original bible?
Of course it was from the bible.
Let’s look at what Paul taught.
The old English of the King James Version of the bible makes it hard to clearly see what Paul is saying so I am using the New Jerusalem Translation here.
Romans 10:4-10
"But the Law has found its fulfilment in Christ so that all who have faith will be justified. Moses writes of the saving justice that comes by the Law and says that whoever complies with it will find life in it. But the saving justice of faith says this: Do not think in your heart, 'Who will go up to heaven?' -- that is to bring Christ down; or 'Who will go down to the depths?' -- that is to bring Christ back from the dead. What does it say, then? The word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the word of faith, the faith which we preach, that if you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and if you believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved. It is by believing with the heart that you are justified, and by making the declaration with your lips that you are saved. "
It almost looks like Paul is teaching a new way of salvation here until we look at where Paul is getting his teaching from; back to the King James.
We will compare one or two verses at a time.
To really understand what Paul is teaching, all of Romans should be read in context.
We do not have the space to deal with this here but let’s look at one previous verse.
Romans 6:15-16
"What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"
Here Paul informs us that, even though we are not under the law, violating the law still leads to death and obedience to God’s law still plays a major role in our righteousness.
This understanding will help us understand what he is trying to teach us in chapter ten.
Romans 10:6
"But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)"
Deuteronomy 30:9-12
"And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers: If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?"
Moses is clearly teaching obedience to God’s law here.
Paul is showing us what obedience to God‘s law points to.
According to John 1:1, Jesus is God’s word made flesh.
God’s law was made flesh to show us clearly the example of how God wants us to live.
Romans 10:7-8
"Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) 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;"
Deuteronomy 30:13-14
"Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it."
Moses spoke of doing God’s law. Paul is not teaching something different. Paul is revealing what God’s law is pointing us to.
Romans 10:9-10
"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 believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
Deuteronomy 30:15-16, 19-20
"See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply:
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days:"
Paul is explaining how we “choose life.”
He is affirming to us that obedience to God’s law is a crucial part of “choosing life.”
He is also letting us know that the next step in “choosing life” is embracing God’s Law made Flesh, His Messiah.
He is explaining to us how we are to be “born again” as Jesus taught us.
By the text Paul is referring to, he again is teaching us that obedience to God’s law is not an optional part of this choice for life. This will be even clearer when we look at what Jesus taught us next.
Matthew 19:16-17
"And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. "
This account is related in Mark 10:17-18 and Luke 18:18-20 as well.
This is not the answer that we would receive from any modern pastor or theologian. Could it be that they teach another gospel that is different from the one that Jesus and the apostles taught? Which commandments was Jesus teaching us to keep? He gives us the answer in Matthew chapter five.
Matthew 5:17 -19
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
All of God’s law is what we are expected to keep, down to the least jot and tittle. We do this by God’s Spirit within us.
Most ministers, if they even make it, will be called “least in the kingdom of heaven.”
You have a choice to make. You could be called “great in the kingdom.” Choose to teach what Jesus taught.
We see here that breaking even the least commandment in God’s law and teaching that this is acceptable will get you demoted to “least in the kingdom.” It will not matter how many great works you have done for God. Teaching that God’s law has been abolished will get you cast out into outer darkness.
NKJ Matthew 7:21 -23
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!
Jesus tells us that He will reject these believers who are performing miracles in His name and by His Spirit because they “practice lawlessness.”
A very unique Greek word is used for lawlessness here. It is the Greek word “anomia.” Nomos is the Greek word used to translate the Hebrew word Torah which is translated law in English.
Anomos means without law.
Anomia means to violate or abolish the law, lawlessness, or contempt of law. Though these many believers were prophesying, casting out devils, and doing many wonderful works in Jesus' name
(we know that this was done by the Spirit of God because in Matt 12:26 Jesus says that Satan will not cast out Satan)
, they had thrown out His Law, they had rejected His words. Without the instructions of God that He spoke at Mt. Sinai, we cannot do the will of our Father in heaven. Refusing to obey God’s written instructions contained in His Law could cost you your eternity.
There are two main reasons why this is true.
First, if we abolish God’s law, we abolish God’s definition of “love.” Since the modern “church” has done this, it has had to make up its own definition of “love” based on 1 Corinthians chapter 13 only. This new definition of “love” is that we accept everyone who claims to be a believer, no matter what kind of sin they might be in. We overlook it and “love” them anyway. There are now homosexuals in leadership positions in some denominations. Is this what Paul taught? Eight chapters earlier we see Paul turning a brother over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh that his spirit might be saved in the day of Christ. He commands the believers to not even eat with the man until he repents. This is an aspect of love based on God’s law that the modern “church” has ignored for the most part.
Jesus taught us in
Matthew 22:36-40
that all of God’s law hangs on the two greatest commandments: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The rest of God’s law is the details of God’s complete definition for “love.”
John brings this fact out in his epistle. Let’s remember God’s definition for sin through John.
1 John 3:4
"Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. "
1 John 2:1-6
"My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, I know Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked."
First, understanding God’s definition for sin, John tells us that he is writing us these things so we will not violate God’s law. He goes on to tell us that the person who claims to know Him but isn’t keeping His commandments is a liar.
Liars have their place in the lake of fire.
Next he tells us that if we keep God’s word (in context, God’s law), God’s love will be perfected in us. This is how He tells us we can know that we are “in Him.” Verse six tells us that we should follow Jesus’ example. In context, this is His example of walking in obedience to all of God’s law by God’s Spirit.
1 Corinthians 13 does indeed hold a key in understanding our passage in Matthew Let’s look at the parallels.
1 Corinthians 13:2
"And though I have the gift of prophecy (Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name?), and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains (have we not cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name?), but have not love, I am nothing"(I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness).
If we abolish God’s law, we are nothing.
We cannot love God or one another by His definition of love. Making up our own will never work. The second major reason that we must keep God’s law if we want eternal life is that obedience is required to perfect our faith.
We can see that Paul actually taught this if we know what to look for. The first verse we have already looked at.
Romans 6:15
"What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"
Let’s look at some others.
Romans 2:13
"For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. "
We know from some of Paul’s other writings that we cannot be justified by the works of the law. Obviously doing the law is different from trying to be justified by works of the law. As we study, we will see that it has to do with the order and motives of our obedience; it has to do with whether we are in the Spirit or in the flesh. Let’s look at some of Paul’s other writings.
Romans 7:10-12
"And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. "
Here again we see that the commandments contained in God’s law were actually ordained to life. The sin that they pointed out is what brought death. Paul tells us that God’s law is holy, the individual commandments are holy, just, and good.
Romans 7:14
"For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. "
This is the key to understanding God’s law.
The law is spiritual; a carnal man could never keep it.
We must have God’s Spirit within us; God’s law must be written on our hearts to be able to truly keep it. This is the main purpose of the Holy Spirit as God told us through Ezekiel.
Let’s look at the famous verses about salvation by grace and see what Paul really taught.
Ephesians 2:8-10
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. "
I have never heard this last verse taught in the context of salvation by grace.
Every minister I have ever heard has stopped with verse nine. Paul went on in verse ten to explain that the works that could never get us “born again” are the same works that we are expected to walk in once we are “created in Christ Jesus.”
If we study Paul’s other writings we will find that the majority of the time he is referring to the “works of the law.” Keeping God’s law is impossible in the flesh and could never get us “born again” even if we could keep it flawlessly. It was never designed for this. It was given to a people already walking in covenant with God. It is only for God’s covenant people.
In Roman’s chapter four Paul tells us that Abraham was saved “by faith” and not “by works.”
This is obviously a true statement.
What Paul does not tell us there but alludes to in Ephesians chapter two is what James teaches us in the second chapter of his epistle.
James 2:14
"What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. 19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? 23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. 24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. 25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."
According to Hebrews 12:2, Jesus is the author and the perfecter of our faith. Does this mean that we have no part to play in this? The answer lies in who Jesus gives this faith to.
Romans 12:3
"For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."
Paul tells us that God has given every man the measure of faith. No man will be able to stand before God claiming that he never had a chance.
John 1:9
"tells us that Jesus has given light to every man that comes into this world. He also tells us that the way that leads to salvation is straight and narrow and there will few that will find it. "
All have this chance
Few will choose to pursue it.
Every man must choose to act on the faith that God gives initially. Every man must also choose to walk in obedience to God’s law so that his faith will be perfected. If he chooses not to, according to James, his faith will die. “Faith without works is dead.”
He did not say that it was never really faith.
James plainly explains that faith must be perfected by good works of obedience or it will die. Paul gives us a stern warning about those who refuse to love God’s law. To understand it we must first understand God’s simple biblical definition for “truth.”
Psalm 119:89
"For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. "
Psalm 119:142 "Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth. "Psalm 119:151 "Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth. "God did not tell us through David that His law was “a truth.” He did not tell us that His law was part of His “truth.” He tells us through David that His law is “the truth.” “Truth” does not change. It is absolute. God makes it clear here that His law, sometimes called “the law of Moses,” is His definition of “truth.” With this understanding, let’s look at Paul’s warning.
2 Thessalonians 2:8
"And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." Anything other than God’s truth is unrighteousness. Doctrines of demons abound in the “church” today. Only those who are diligently seeking will actually find the straight and narrow path.
The rest will be lost.
We must receive the love of the truth. We must reject the lie of the enemy before it is too late. We must love God’s law. This was the testimony of the early believers. This should be our testimony too.
Acts 21:20
"And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:" Let’s look at one other scripture in Revelation chapter 22.
Revelation 22:14
"Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. 15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie."
Do not be one of these who loves the lie that Satan has spread throughout almost the whole church.
Instead be a lover of God’s law.
The truths that we have studied are not being taught in the modern “church.”
This is why sin abounds.
This is why few will find that “straight and narrow path.” God will hold the ministers to a much higher standard. Please prayerfully study out these truths for yourselves. Show yourselves approved unto God. Rightly divide the word of truth
There is a problem in the “church” of today!
1.) The divorce rate is higher in the “church” than it is in the world.
2.) Adultery abounds in the church.
3.) Pre-marital sex is the norm.
4.) Pregnant teens and unwed mothers flourish in the “church.”
There is a reason for this problem:
The gospel that the modern ”church” teaches is not the one that our Messiah taught.
Our current theology has strayed far from that of the believers of the first century.
In order to understand where our doctrines are wrong, we must examine what our Messiah originally taught and see if the apostles’ doctrine lined up with this.
If the Messiah and the apostles agree, it should be obvious that it is the modern “church” and it’s theology that is in error.
The first doctrine that Jesus taught was repentance.
Mark 1:14-15
"Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel."
Matthew 4:17
"From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
This was the message that John the Baptist had taught.
Matthew 3:1-2
"In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
This is also the same message that Peter preached when Pentecost had fully come.
Acts 2:38
"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."
Peter did not lead them in a sinners’ prayer, funny how there's NOT ONE sinners prayer in the bible....WHY?
Well for one thing, God saves many different people in a multitude of different ways in scripture and not once does he require a certain prayer to come in.
God ONLY requires FAITH from the heart which connects to heaven FASTER THAN WE CAN EVER PRAY WORDS!
The prayer is NOT wrong it's simply not required to be saved....just faith in God!
Just saying “I’m sorry” was not the gospel.
Repentance was still the first step in the gospel of the New Covenant, and to repent meant to completely TURN AROUND from your previous life and go to God in HIS direction.
The only difference in the New Testament was that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been added which began in John 20.
In studying the balance of scripture, we can see that Peter was not teaching water baptism for the remission of sins but repentance for the remission of sins.
This is the first step in the salvation process.
In order to understand this doctrine of repentance, we must first understand how the bible defines ”sin.”
We will first look at Paul’s insights.
Romans 3:20
"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."
Romans 7:7
"What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law:"
Paul tells us that it is God’s law that is our gauge to reveal sin. John affirms this understanding.
1 John 3:4
"Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law."
In other words, Peter was telling the people to STOP VIOLATING GOD’S LAW AND TURN COMPLETELY TO GOD THROUGH HIS MESSIAH.
The physical picture of this spiritual decision was water baptism.
The modern “church” has taught that God’s law was a curse and that it has been done away with, nailed to the cross. As a result, gross sin is now more rampant in the “church” than it is in the world.
Is this the gospel that Jesus and the apostles taught?
We will examine this in more depth later in this article.
Next, let’s look at Jesus’ doctrine of being “born again.”
John 3:1-5
"There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 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. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 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. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
To be "Born Again" has NOTHING to do with a Church dogma, this is the ticket to Heaven we are referring too not some churches membership.
This is not a man-made doctrine or simple knowledge of doctrine, it is God's way to the Next life and must not be DIMINISHED by religion the way it has been!
Was Jesus making up a new doctrine or was He referring to the original bible
(what we have erroneously called the “old testament” as if it didn't belong to the New Testament somehow)?
He was of course referring to the bible.
As we will see, the water represents the physical repentance and obedience. Being born of the Spirit is God putting His Spirit within us. Pay very close attention as to the reason that God gives for putting His Spirit within us.
Ezekiel 36:25-27
"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. "
This first verse that speaks of the cleansing water refers back to God’s law in Numbers 19:1-13
which describes God’s commandments concerning the Red Heifer and the cleansing water that is made with its’ ashes. There is no apparent logical reason for this.
This represents obedience by faith.
The reason God gives for putting His Spirit in us was to transform our stony hearts into flesh, to change our spiritual nature into one of wanting to do God’s will.
This is what Paul is referring to in Philippians 2:12-13.
"Now God is helping us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling by giving us the desire and the ability to do His good pleasure."
What is His good pleasure?
This last verse in Ezekiel tells us. God has empowered us to walk in His statutes, and to keep His judgments, TO DO THEM.
What are these statutes and judgments?
Jeremiah gives us the answer.
Jeremiah 31:31-33
"Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. "
God’s law is what He said He would write on our hearts. God’s law is the statutes and judgments we are empowered to now keep. We have been told that nobody can keep God’s law.
This is not what the bible teaches. Jesus’ teaching of the “born again” experience was already outlined in the prophets.
What about the gospel of salvation that Paul taught?
Was it a new doctrine or was it from the original bible?
Of course it was from the bible.
Let’s look at what Paul taught.
The old English of the King James Version of the bible makes it hard to clearly see what Paul is saying so I am using the New Jerusalem Translation here.
Romans 10:4-10
"But the Law has found its fulfilment in Christ so that all who have faith will be justified. Moses writes of the saving justice that comes by the Law and says that whoever complies with it will find life in it. But the saving justice of faith says this: Do not think in your heart, 'Who will go up to heaven?' --
that is to bring Christ down; or 'Who will go down to the depths?' -- that is to bring Christ back from the dead. What does it say, then? The word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, that is, the word of faith, the faith which we preach, that if you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and if you believe with your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved. It is by believing with the heart that you are justified, and by making the declaration with your lips that you are saved. "
It almost looks like Paul is teaching a new way of salvation here until we look at where Paul is getting his teaching from; back to the King James.
We will compare one or two verses at a time.
To really understand what Paul is teaching, all of Romans should be read in context.
We do not have the space to deal with this here but let’s look at one previous verse.
Romans 6:15-16
"What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"
Here Paul informs us that, even though we are not under the law, violating the law still leads to death and obedience to God’s law still plays a major role in our righteousness.
This understanding will help us understand what he is trying to teach us in chapter ten.
Romans 10:6
"But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven?
(that is, to bring Christ down from above:)"
Deuteronomy 30:9-12
"And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers: If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?"
Moses is clearly teaching obedience to God’s law here.
Paul is showing us what obedience to God‘s law points to.
According to John 1:1, Jesus is God’s word made flesh.
God’s law was made flesh to show us clearly the example of how God wants us to live.
Romans 10:7-8
"Or, Who shall descend into the deep?
(that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
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;"
Deuteronomy 30:13-14
"Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it."
Moses spoke of doing God’s law. Paul is not teaching something different. Paul is revealing what God’s law is pointing us to.
Romans 10:9-10
"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 believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
Deuteronomy 30:15-16, 19-20
"See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply:
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days:"
Paul is explaining how we “choose life.”
He is affirming to us that obedience to God’s law is a crucial part of “choosing life.”
He is also letting us know that the next step in “choosing life” is embracing God’s Law made Flesh, His Messiah.
He is explaining to us how we are to be “born again” as Jesus taught us.
By the text Paul is referring to, he again is teaching us that obedience to God’s law is not an optional part of this choice for life. This will be even clearer when we look at what Jesus taught us next.
Matthew 19:16-17
"And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. "
This account is related in Mark 10:17-18 and Luke 18:18-20 as well.
This is not the answer that we would receive from any modern pastor or theologian. Could it be that they teach another gospel that is different from the one that Jesus and the apostles taught?
Which commandments was Jesus teaching us to keep? He gives us the answer in Matthew chapter five.
Matthew 5:17 -19
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
All of God’s law is what we are expected to keep, down to the least jot and tittle. We do this by God’s Spirit within us.
Most ministers, if they even make it, will be called “least in the kingdom of heaven.”
You have a choice to make. You could be called “great in the kingdom.” Choose to teach what Jesus taught.
We see here that breaking even the least commandment in God’s law and teaching that this is acceptable will get you demoted to “least in the kingdom.” It will not matter how many great works you have done for God. Teaching that God’s law has been abolished will get you cast out into outer darkness.
NKJ Matthew 7:21 -23
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!
Jesus tells us that He will reject these believers who are performing miracles in His name and by His Spirit because they “practice lawlessness.”
A very unique Greek word is used for lawlessness here. It is the Greek word “anomia.” Nomos is the Greek word used to translate the Hebrew word Torah which is translated law in English.
Anomos means without law.
Anomia means to violate or abolish the law, lawlessness, or contempt of law.
Though these many believers were prophesying, casting out devils, and doing many wonderful works in Jesus' name
(we know that this was done by the Spirit of God because in Matt 12:26 Jesus says that Satan will not cast out Satan)
, they had thrown out His Law, they had rejected His words. Without the instructions of God that He spoke at Mt. Sinai, we cannot do the will of our Father in heaven.
Refusing to obey God’s written instructions contained in His Law could cost you your eternity.
There are two main reasons why this is true.
First, if we abolish God’s law, we abolish God’s definition of “love.” Since the modern “church” has done this, it has had to make up its own definition of “love” based on 1 Corinthians chapter 13 only.
This new definition of “love” is that we accept everyone who claims to be a believer, no matter what kind of sin they might be in.
We overlook it and “love” them anyway.
There are now homosexuals in leadership positions in some denominations.
Is this what Paul taught?
Eight chapters earlier we see Paul turning a brother over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh that his spirit might be saved in the day of Christ.
He commands the believers to not even eat with the man until he repents.
This is an aspect of love based on God’s law that the modern “church” has ignored for the most part.
Jesus taught us in
Matthew 22:36-40
that all of God’s law hangs on the two greatest commandments:
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The rest of God’s law is the details of God’s complete definition for “love.”
John brings this fact out in his epistle. Let’s remember God’s definition for sin through John.
1 John 3:4
"Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. "
1 John 2:1-6
"My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
He who says, I know Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.
He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked."
First, understanding God’s definition for sin, John tells us that he is writing us these things so we will not violate God’s law. He goes on to tell us that the person who claims to know Him but isn’t keeping His commandments is a liar.
Liars have their place in the lake of fire.
Next he tells us that if we keep God’s word (in context, God’s law), God’s love will be perfected in us. This is how He tells us we can know that we are “in Him.” Verse six tells us that we should follow Jesus’ example. In context, this is His example of walking in obedience to all of God’s law by God’s Spirit.
1 Corinthians 13 does indeed hold a key in understanding our passage in Matthew
Let’s look at the parallels.
1 Corinthians 13:2
"And though I have the gift of prophecy
(Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name?)
, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains
(have we not cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name?)
, but have not love, I am nothing"
(I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness).
If we abolish God’s law, we are nothing.
We cannot love God or one another by His definition of love.
Making up our own will never work.
The second major reason that we must keep God’s law if we want eternal life is that obedience is required to perfect our faith.
We can see that Paul actually taught this if we know what to look for. The first verse we have already looked at.
Romans 6:15
"What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"
Let’s look at some others.
Romans 2:13
"For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. "
We know from some of Paul’s other writings that we cannot be justified by the works of the law. Obviously doing the law is different from trying to be justified by works of the law.
As we study, we will see that it has to do with the order and motives of our obedience; it has to do with whether we are in the Spirit or in the flesh. Let’s look at some of Paul’s other writings.
Romans 7:10-12
"And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. "
Here again we see that the commandments contained in God’s law were actually ordained to life. The sin that they pointed out is what brought death. Paul tells us that God’s law is holy, the individual commandments are holy, just, and good.
Romans 7:14
"For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. "
This is the key to understanding God’s law.
The law is spiritual; a carnal man could never keep it.
We must have God’s Spirit within us; God’s law must be written on our hearts to be able to truly keep it.
This is the main purpose of the Holy Spirit as God told us through Ezekiel.
Let’s look at the famous verses about salvation by grace and see what Paul really taught.
Ephesians 2:8-10
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. "
I have never heard this last verse taught in the context of salvation by grace.
Every minister I have ever heard has stopped with verse nine. Paul went on in verse ten to explain that the works that could never get us “born again” are the same works that we are expected to walk in once we are “created in Christ Jesus.”
If we study Paul’s other writings we will find that the majority of the time he is referring to the “works of the law.”
Keeping God’s law is impossible in the flesh and could never get us “born again” even if we could keep it flawlessly.
It was never designed for this. It was given to a people already walking in covenant with God. It is only for God’s covenant people.
In Roman’s chapter four Paul tells us that Abraham was saved “by faith” and not “by works.”
This is obviously a true statement.
What Paul does not tell us there but alludes to in Ephesians chapter two is what James teaches us in the second chapter of his epistle.
James 2:14
"What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.
25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?
26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."
According to Hebrews 12:2, Jesus is the author and the perfecter of our faith.
Does this mean that we have no part to play in this?
The answer lies in who Jesus gives this faith to.
Romans 12:3
"For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."
Paul tells us that God has given every man the measure of faith. No man will be able to stand before God claiming that he never had a chance.
John 1:9
"tells us that Jesus has given light to every man that comes into this world. He also tells us that the way that leads to salvation is straight and narrow and there will few that will find it. "
All have this chance
Few will choose to pursue it.
Every man must choose to act on the faith that God gives initially.
Every man must also choose to walk in obedience to God’s law so that his faith will be perfected.
If he chooses not to, according to
James,
his faith will die.
“Faith without works is dead.”
He did not say that it was never really faith.
James plainly explains that faith must be perfected by good works of obedience or it will die.
Paul gives us a stern warning about those who refuse to love God’s law. To understand it we must first understand God’s simple biblical definition for “truth.”
Psalm 119:89
"For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. "
Psalm 119:142
"Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth. "
Psalm 119:151
"Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth. "
God did not tell us through David that His law was “a truth.” He did not tell us that His law was part of His “truth.”
He tells us through David that His law is “the truth.” “Truth” does not change.
It is absolute. God makes it clear here that His law, sometimes called “the law of Moses,” is His definition of “truth.”
With this understanding, let’s look at Paul’s warning.
2 Thessalonians 2:8
"And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
Anything other than God’s truth is unrighteousness. Doctrines of demons abound in the “church” today. Only those who are diligently seeking will actually find the straight and narrow path.
The rest will be lost.
We must receive the love of the truth.
We must reject the lie of the enemy before it is too late.
We must love God’s law.
This was the testimony of the early believers.
This should be our testimony too.
Acts 21:20
"And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law:"
Let’s look at one other scripture in Revelation chapter 22.
Revelation 22:14
"Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie."
Do not be one of these who loves the lie that Satan has spread throughout almost the whole church.
Instead be a lover of God’s law.
The truths that we have studied are not being taught in the modern “church.”
This is why sin abounds.
This is why few will find that “straight and narrow path.”
God will hold the ministers to a much higher standard.
Please prayerfully study out these truths for yourselves.
Show yourselves approved unto God.
Rightly divide the word of truth
Think your a Christian? Then pass the Bible test if you dare!
SKEPTICS HAVE FOREVER USED THE FACT THAT "SO-CALLED BELIEVERS" HAVE NOT LIVED UP TO THEIR IDEAL OF WHAT THEY TEACH AND SAY! This IS a great argument BUT the reality of what skeptics are using against us is something else. THE TRUTH ABOUT "REAL CHRISTIANITY AND FALSE CHRISTIANITY IS VERY IMPORTANT AND TOTALLY NEGLECTED TEACHING IN THE CHURCH! Knowing this will eliminate 90% of the skeptics arguments! JUDE 1:3 "Beloved, my whole concern was to write to you in regard to our common salvation. [But] I found it necessary and was impelled to write you and urgently appeal to and exhort [you] to contend for the faith which was once for all [a]handed down to the saints [the faith which is that sum of Christian belief which was delivered [b]verbally to the holy people of God]. 4 For certain men have crept in stealthily [[c]gaining entrance secretly by a side door]. Their doom was predicted long ago, ungodly (impious, profane) persons who pervert the grace (the spiritual blessing and favor) of our God into lawlessness and wantonness and immorality, and disown and deny our sole Master and Lord, Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). 5 Now I want to remind you, though you were fully informed once for all, that though the Lord [at one time] delivered a people out of the land of Egypt, He subsequently destroyed those [of them] who did not believe [who refused to adhere to, trust in, and rely upon Him]. THE SCRIPTURES REVEAL A COMBINATION OF BOTH IDEAS,THESE THINGS HAVE BEEN AROUND A LONG TIME BUT ARE GROWING WORSE AS TIME GOES ON!THESE IMMORAL IMPOSTER'S PRETEND TO BE CHRISTIANS WHO THINK,ACT AND WALK AND TALK LIKE US BUT WHO ARE EVIL AT THE CORE (CREPT IN UNAWARES) Hebrews 6:1"Therefore let us go on and get past the elementary stage in the teachings and doctrine of Christ (the Messiah), advancing steadily toward the completeness and perfection that belong to spiritual maturity. Let us not again be laying the foundation of repentance and abandonment of dead works (dead formalism) and of the faith [by which you turned] to God, 2. With teachings about purifying, the laying on of hands, the resurrection from the dead, and eternal judgment and punishment. [These are all matters of which you should have been fully aware long, long ago.]" NOTICE THAT THESE TEACHINGS ARE ALL WE HEAR ABOUT IN THE CHURCH TODAY! THERE IS NOTHING UNORTHODOX IN THESE BELIEFS...BUT WE ARE NOT MEANT TO "WALLOW" IN THEM FOREVER NEVER LEARNING DEEPER TRUTHS BUT WHAT ARE THE DEEPER TRUTHS?IT IS OF THE UTMOST CONCERN THAT ALL OF US INVESTIGATE OUR SALVATION EXPERIENCE TO MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE WE ARE TRULY SAVED,AND NOT JUST RELIGIOUSLY INDOCTRINATED TO THINK SO....OUR RELIGION IS NOT OUR FAITH AND TO JUST TRUST IN MAN'S CREATION IS IDOLATRY IN THE HIGHEST FORM!!!! HEBREWS 6:3 "If indeed God permits, we will [now] proceed [to advanced teaching].
Heb 6:1 -
Wherefore (dio). Because of the argument already made about the difficulty of the subject and the DULLNESS of the readers.
Let us cease to speak (aphentes ton logon). Second aorist active participle of aphiēmi, to leave off or behind.
Of the first principles of Christ (tēs archēs tou Christou). Objective genitive Christou (about Christ). "Leaving behind the discussion of the beginning about Christ," another way of saying again 'ta stoicheia tēs archēs tōn logiōn tou theou' of Heb_5:12.And press on (kai pherōmetha). Volitive present subjunctive passive, "Let us be borne on" (both the writer and the readers). The Pythagorean Schools use pherōmetha in precisely this sense of being borne on to a higher stage of instruction. Bleek quotes several instances of Greek writers using together as here of aphentes pherōmetha (Eurip., Androm. 393, for instance).
Unto perfection (epi tēn teleiotēta). Old word from teleios mature, adults as in Heb_5:14. Only twice in N.T. (here and Col_3:14). Let us go on to the stage of adults, not babes, able to masticate solid spiritual food. The writer will assume that the readers are adults in his discussion of the topic.
Not laying again the foundation (mē palin themelion kataballomenoi). The regular idiom for laying down the foundation of a building (themelion, Luk_6:48.). The metaphor is common (1Co_3:11) and the foundation is important, but one cannot be laying the foundation always if he is to build the house. There are six items mentioned here as part of the "foundation," though the accusative didachēn in apposition with themelion may mean that there are only four included in the themelion. Two are qualitative genitives after themelion (metanoias and pisteōs). What is meant by "dead works" (apo nekrōn ergōn) is not clear (Heb_9:14), though the reference may be to touching a corpse (Num_19:1.; Num_31:19). There are frequent allusions to the deadening power of sin (Jam_2:17, Jam_2:26; Joh_7:25; Rom_6:1, Rom_6:11; Rom_7:8; Col_2:13; Eph_2:1, Eph_2:5). The use of repentance and faith together occurs also elsewhere (Mar_1:15; Act_20:21; 1Th_1:9).4 "For it is impossible [to restore and bring again to repentance] those who have been once for all enlightened,
WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?
I BELIEVE THEM TO BE FALSE CONVERTS ; CONVERTED TO A CHURCH MEMBERSHIP OR A GREAT IDEA ABOUT CHRIST GIVING THEM JOY,PEACE AND FIXING THEIR PROBLEMS ,WHO COME ONLY SO FAR IN AND CAN GO NO FARTHER BECAUSE OF SHALLOW COMMITMENT AND FALSE REPENTANCE ,..THAT IS REPENTANCE NOT BASED IN TRUE KNOWLEDGE OF PERSONAL SIN AND ITS CONSEQUENCES! IF SOMEONE BREAKS GOD'S LAW AND HAS NO REAL KNOWLEDGE OF WHY IT'S WRONG,OR WHAT IT MEANS TO GOD OR THEIR SOUL THEN IT IS FALSE REPENTANCE,BASED ONLY ON GETTING CAUGHT IN THE ACT OR SIMPLY PRAYING A PRAYER WITHOUT MEANING,THESE PEOPLE ARE SHALLOW HEARERS AND EXIST FOR A TIME AND SOON FALL AWAY THINKING THEY ARE STILL SAVED!) who have consciously(WITH FULL KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT THEY ARE DOING) tasted(TASTING AND EATING OF ARE TWO DIFFERENT IDEAS IN SCRIPTURE AND SHOULD NEVER BE MIXED,TASTING IS ONLY THE BEGINNING OF THE PROCESS OF EATING OF DOCTRINE) (MAKING A DECISION BY PRAYING A SINNERS PRAYER TO BE SAVED BY) the heavenly gift (OF SALVATION CAN BACKFIRE IF THERE IS NO REAL FOLLOWUP TO THE INDIVIDUALS LIFE,THUS THE EXPERIENCE IS NOT ROOTED IN THEM AND PROVED TO THEIR MIND TO BE REAL,THIS CAN RESULT IN A "FALSE CONVERSION " THAT LOOKS AND SOUNDS REAL BUT HAS NO DEPTH OF REALITY IN CHRIST..THIS JUST WHAT RELIGION OFFERS:A COUNTERFEIT FAITH,AND IF THEY BELIEVE THEY ARE SAVED BECAUSE OF A SHALLOW PRAYER AT SOME POINT IN THEIR LIFE THEN THE DECEPTION IS COMPLETE!!)and have become sharers of the Holy Spirit, (MANY TIMES A PERSON CAN BE SHARING THE HOLY SPIRIT BY HANGING AROUND REAL BELIEVERS WHO ARE REALLY SAVED, DEVELOPING A COPIED LIFESTYLE..THEY DON'T REALIZE THEY ARE "CLONED CHRISTIANS" THEN AGAIN THERE ARE THOSE IN THE BODY WHO KNOW FULL WELL THEY ARE NOT SAVED AND INTEND HARM TO CHRIST'S CHURCH,THEY ARE IMPLANTS, SPIES,FROM SATAN WHO DESTROY WHATEVER THEIR HANDS AND MOUTH'S TOUCH!!) 5 And have felt (ANYONE WHO GOES TO CHURCH CAN FEEL HOW GOOD THE WORD OF GOD IS BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE BORN AGAIN!)how good the Word of God is and the mighty powers of the age and world to come,(THEY KNOW ALL ABOUT GOD,THE CHURCH,AND PROPHECY) 6. IF
(THIS IS THE KEY WORD HERE)
they then deviate from the faith and turn away from their allegiance--[it is impossible] to bring them back to repentance, for (because, while, as long as) they nail upon the cross the Son of God afresh [as far as they are concerned] and are holding [Him] up to contempt and shame and public disgrace." (ONCE THEY CAN REALIZE WHAT IS HAPPENING AND REPENT AND TRULY GET SAVED THEY CAN COME INTO THE BODY,BUT THOSE WHO NEVER REPENT ARE DOOMED TO ETERNAL HELL BECAUSE OF THEIR OWN DECISION TO GO THERE!!)
Heb 6:6 -
It is impossible to renew them again (adunaton palin anakainizein). The adunaton (impossible) comes first in Heb_6:4 without estin (is) and there is no "them" in the Greek. There are three other instances of adunaton in Hebrews (Heb_6:18; Heb_10:4; Heb_11:6). The present active infinitive of anakainizō (late verb, ana, kainos, here only in the N.T., but anakainoō, 2Co_4:16; Col_3:10) with adunaton bluntly denies the possibility of renewal for apostates from Christ (cf. 3:12-4:2). It is a terrible picture and cannot be toned down. The one ray of light comes in Heb_6:8-12, not here.
Seeing they crucify to themselves afresh (anastraurountas heautois). Present active participle (accusative plural agreeing with tous ... parapesontas) of anastauroō, the usual verb for crucify in the old Greek so that ana- here does not mean "again" or "afresh," but "up," sursum, not rursum (Vulgate). This is the reason why renewal for such apostates is impossible. They crucify Christ.
And put him to an open shame (kai paradeigmatizontas). Present active participle of paradeigmatizō, late verb from paradeigma (example), to make an example of, and in bad sense to expose to disgrace. Simplex verb deigmatisai in this sense in Mat_1:19.NOTICE THAT THEY CANNOT EVER COME BACK ONCE THEY GO BACK..WHY ? BECAUSE SALVATION HERE IS NOT COMPLETE,THE PROCESS OF SALVATION HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED AT THE ROOTS, HAVING PLANTED THEMSELVES IN SHALLOW DOCTRINAL ISSUES RATHER THAN GOING ON INTO THE DEEPER MEAT AND RICH EARTH TO FOLLOW THIS BEGINNING! SOME WHO ARE IN THIS STATE CAN BE SAVED FROM IT WITH THE HELP OF PATIENT BELIEVERS:JUDE1:20"But you, beloved, build yourselves up [founded] on your most holy faith [[d]make progress, rise like an edifice higher and higher], praying in the Holy Spirit; 21Guard and keep yourselves in the love of God; expect and patiently wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)--[which will bring you] unto life eternal. 22And refute [so as to] convict some who dispute with you, and on some have mercy who waver and doubt. 23[Strive to] save others, snatching [them] out of [the] fire; on others take pity [but] with fear, loathing even the garment spotted by the flesh and polluted by their sensuality." YOU WILL NOTICE THAT WE SEE TWO KINDS OF SOIL MENTIONED AND THUS TWO KINDS OF RESULTS FROM THE SAME GARDEN: HEBREWS 6: 7 "For the soil which has drunk the rain that repeatedly falls upon it and produces vegetation useful to those for whose benefit it is cultivated partakes of a blessing from God 8 But if [that same soil] persistently bears thorns and thistles, it is considered worthless and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned." THE SAME SOIL OF THE HEART CAN PRODUCE A DIFFERENT RESULT,THE SAME SALVATION EXPERIENCE CAN RESULT IN TWO DIFFERENT ENDS,THE KEY TO UNDERSTAND THIS IS FOUND IN : MARK 4: 13 "And He said to them, Do you not discern and understand this parable? How then is it possible for you to discern and understand all the parables? 14The sower sows the Word. 15The ones along the path are those who have the Word sown [in their hearts], but when they hear, Satan comes at once and [by force] takes away the message which is sown in them. 16And in the same way the ones sown upon stony ground are those who, when they hear the Word, at once receive and accept and welcome it with joy; 17And they have no real root in themselves, and so they endure for a little while; then when trouble or persecution arises on account of the Word, they immediately are offended (become displeased, indignant, resentful) and they stumble and fall away. 18And the ones sown among the thorns are others who hear the Word; 19Then the cares and anxieties of the world and distractions of the age, and the pleasure and delight and false glamour and deceitfulness of riches, and the craving and passionate desire for other things creep in and choke and suffocate the Word, and it becomes fruitless. 20And those sown on the good (well-adapted) soil are the ones who hear the Word and receive and accept and welcome it and bear fruit--some thirty times as much as was sown, some sixty times as much, and some [even] a hundred times as much. 21And He said to them, Is the lamp brought in to be put under a [f]peck measure or under a bed, and not [to be put] on the lampstand? 22[[g]Things are hidden temporarily only as a means to revelation.] For there is nothing hidden except to be revealed, nor is anything [temporarily] kept secret except in order that it may be made known. 23If any man has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him perceive and comprehend. 24And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [h][of thought and study] you give [to [i]the truth you hear] will be the measure [j][of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you--and more [besides] will be given to you who hear." YOU CAN HEAR, AND HEAR AND HEAR THE WORD OF GOD ABOUT THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER BUT IF YOU DO NOT ACT ON IT TO MAKE THE WORD ONE WITH YOUR LIFE YOUR WASTING YOUR TIME!ONLY ACTION PRODUCES FRUIT...INACTION ONLY STINKS UP THE POND AND MAKES IT FIT ONLY FOR DEVILS TO DWELL IN, IF THOSE WHO KNOW THE MEAT DO NOT REACH OUT TO THEM THEY WILL DIE IN BASIC DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH AND NEVER MOVE ON...THESE ARE THOSE IN DANGER OF FALLING AWAY IN HEBREWS 6! MARK 4:30 "And He said, With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use to illustrate and explain it? 31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all seeds upon the earth; 32 Yet after it is sown, it grows up and becomes the greatest of all garden herbs and puts out large branches, so that the birds..... (THESE ARE THE FALSE CHRISTIAN SECTS AND FALSE RELIGIONS MIXED IN UNDER THE BIG UMBRELLA OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD) of the air.....(THE DEVILS OF FALSE REPENTANCE AND DOCTRINE,WHICH) are able to make nests (LOOK ORTHODOX) and dwell.....(LIVE WITHOUT NOTICE) in its shade.(THE COMFORT OF DARKNESS FROM THE SON OF GOD'S STARE....AT LEAST THEY THINK SO ANYWAY!)
Mat 6:21"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." 22 The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is sound,..... (Thayer Definition: 1) simple, single 2) whole 3) good fulfilling its office, sound 3a) of the eye your entire body will be full of light.) DON'T BE CONCERNED WITH SOMETHING BEYOND YOUR GRASP,GROW WHERE YOU ARE, LEARN ALL YOU CAN RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED..ONLY GOD CAN MOVE YOU WHEN HE DESIRES IT! 23 But if your eye is unsound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the very light in you [your [r]conscience] is darkened, how dense is that darkness! {IF WHAT YOU BELIEVE IS LIGHT FROM GOD AND IT TURNS OUT TO BE DARKNESS BECAUSE OF SELF DECEPTION,HOW GREAT WILL THAT KIND OF DARKNESS BE!] 24 No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise and be [s]against the other. You cannot serve God and mammon ([t]deceitful riches, money, possessions, or [u]whatever is trusted in)." TRUSTING IN RELIGION IS DANGEROUS,BECAUSE WE CANNOT BE SURE OF OUR POSITION THERE..IT'S BASED ON PERSONAL WORKS THAT WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH TO PLEASE GOD! TRUE SALVATION IS ALWAYS BASED ON HIS WORK FOR US..WHICH IS GRACE!
2Ti 2:4 "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."
No soldier on service (oudeis strateuomenos). "No one serving as a soldier." See note on 1Co_9:7 for this old verb and 2Co_10:3; 1Ti_1:18 for the metaphorical use.
Entangleth himself (empleketai). Old compound, to inweave (see Mat_27:29 for plekō), in N.T. only here and 2Pe_2:20. Present middle (direct) indicative.
In the affairs (tais pragmateiais). Old word (from pragmateuomai, Luk_19:13), business, occupation, only here in N.T.
Of this life (tou biou). No "this" in the Greek, "of life" (course of life as in 1Ti_2:2, not existence zōē).
Him who enrolled him as a soldier (tōi stratologēsanti). Dative case after aresēi (first aorist active subjunctive of areskō, to please, 1Th_2:4, purpose clause with hina) of the articular first aorist active participle of stratologeō, literary Koiné[28928]š word (stratologos, from stratos and legō), only here in N.T.
2Ti 3:1"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come."
2Ti 3:2 "For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,.."
2Ti 3:3 "Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,..."
2Ti 3:4 "Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;...."
2Ti 3:5 "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."
2Ti 3:6 "For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,..."
2Ti 3:7 "Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."
2Ti 3:5 -
A form of godliness (morphōsin eusebeias).
Having denied (ērnēmenoi). Perfect middle participle of arneomai
Power (dunamin). See 1Co_4:20. See Rom_1:29-31 for similar description.
Turn away (apotrepou). Present middle (direct) imperative of apotrepō, "turn thyself away from." Old verb, only here in N.T.
2Ti 3:7 -
Never able to come to the knowledge of the truth (mēdepote eis epignōsin alētheias elthein dunamena). Pathetic picture of these hypnotized women without intellectual power to cut through the fog of words and, though always learning scraps of things, they never come into the full knowledge (epignōsin) of the truth in Christ. And yet they even pride themselves on belonging to the intelligentsia!
2Ti 4:1 "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;.."
2Ti 4:2 "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine."
2Ti 4:3 "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;..."
2Ti 4:4 "And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."
2Ti 4:3 -
A time when (kairos hote). One of the akairōs (out of season) times.
Will not endure (ouk anexontai). Future middle (direct) of anechō. "Will not hold themselves back from" (Col_3:13). Having itching ears (knēthomenoi tēn akoēn). Present middle (causative) participle of knēthō, late and rare form of the Attic knaō, to scratch, to tickle, here only in N.T. "Getting the ears (the hearing, tēn akoēn) tickled." The Vulgate has prurientes. Cf. the Athenians (Act_17:21). Clement of Alexandria tells of speakers tickling (knēthontes) the ears of those who want to be tickled. This is the temptation of the merely "popular" preacher, to furnish the latest tickle.
2Ti 4:4 -
Will turn away their ears (tēn akoēn apostrepsousin). Future active of old verb apostrephō. See 1Co_12:17 for this use of akoē. The people stopped their ears and rushed at Stephen in Act_7:57.
Will turn aside (ektrapēsontai). Second future passive of ektrepō. They prefer "myths" to "the truth" as some today turn away to "humanism," "bolshevism," "new thought" or any other fad that will give a new momentary thrill to their itching ears and morbid minds.
1Pe 2:1 "Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,..."
1Pe 2:2 "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:.."
1Pe 2:3 "If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious."
1Pe 2:1 -
Putting away therefore (apothemenoi oun). Second aorist middle participle of apotithēmi, old and common verb, in metaphorical sense either to cleanse defilements (1Pe_3:21; Jam_1:21) or to put off clothing (Rom_13:12; Col_3:5.; Eph_4:22). Either sense suits here. Therefore (oun) because of the new birth (1Pe_1:23) and the new life demanded.
Wickedness (kakian). This old word, from kakos (evil), in the ancients meant vice of any kind and note pāsan (all) here.
Guile (dolon). Old word (from delō, to catch with bait), deceit.
Hypocrisies (hupokriseis). Singular (hupokrisin) in the best MSS. See 1Pe_1:22 (anupokriton) and Mar_7:6. for Christ’s denunciation of hypocrites which the disciples did not understand, including Peter (Mat_15:16.).Envies (phthonous). Genuine here, not phonous (murders), as B has it. For the word see Mat_27:18.
Evil speakings (katalalias). Late word (from katalalos, defamer, Rom_1:30), in N.T. only here and 2Co_12:20. "Backbitings." For verb see note on 1Pe_2:12.
1Pe 2:2 -
As newborn babes (hōs artigennēta brephē). Brephos, old word, originally unborn child (Luk_1:41-44), then infant (Luk_2:12), here figuratively, like nēpioi. Artigennēta is a late and rare compound (Lucian, imperial inscription) from arti and gennaō, with evident allusion to anagegennēmenoi in 1Pe_1:23, probably meaning that they were recent converts, possibly slight proof that the Epistle written before Romans by Paul (Kuhl).
Long for (epipothēsate). First aorist (constative) active imperative of epipotheō, old verb for intense yearning (Phi_2:26).
The spiritual milk which is without guile (to logikon adolon gala). Gala is old word for milk as in 1Co_9:7 and as metaphor in 1Co_3:2. Adolos is an old compound (here alone in N.T.) adjective (alpha privative and dolos deceit), unadulterated milk which, alas, is so hard to get. Logikon is an old adjective in ̇ikos, from logos (reason, speech), in N.T. only here and Rom_12:1, used here with allusion to logou (1Pe_1:23) and rēma (1Pe_1:25), "the sincere milk of the word" ("the milk belonging to the word," either the milk which is the word or the milk contained in the word, that is Christ). So Bigg holds. But in Rom_12:1 Paul uses logikon in the sense of "rational" or "spiritual," and that idea is possible here as Hort holds. In the Pelagia legend (Usener) we have the phrase tōn logikōn probatōn tou Christou (the spiritual or rational sheep of Christ).
That ye may grow thereby (hina en autōi auxēthēte). Purpose clause with hina and the first aorist passive subjunctive of auxanō, old and common verb to grow. See this same metaphor in Col_2:19; Eph_4:15. Peter uses the word of God as the food for growth, especially for babes in Christ, not emphasizing the distinction from solid food (brōma) made in 1Co_3:2; Heb_5:13. "Salvation (sōtērian) here is final salvation."
1Pe 2:7 "Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,..."
1Pe 2:8 "And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed."
1Pe 2:7 -
The preciousness (hē timē). Or "the honour." Explanation of entimon and ou mē kataischunthēi and only true "for you which believe" (tois pisteuousin ethical dative of articular present active participle of pisteuō to believe).
But for such as disbelieve (apistousin de). Dative present active participle again of apisteō, opposite of pisteuō (Luk_24:11).
Was made the head of the corner (egenēthē eis kephalēn gōnias). This verse is from Psa_118:22 with evident allusion to Isa_28:16 (kephalēn gōnias = akrogōniaion). See Mat_21:42; Mar_12:10; Luk_20:17, where Jesus himself quotes Psa_118:22 and applies the rejection of the stone by the builders (hoi oikodomountes, the experts) to the Sanhedrin’s conduct toward him. Peter quoted it also (and applied it as Jesus had done) in his speech at the Beautiful Gate (Act_4:11). Here he quotes it again to the same purpose.
1Pe 2:8 -
And (kai). Peter now quotes Isa_8:14 and gives a new turn to the previous quotation. To the disbelieving, Christ was indeed "a stone of stumbling (lithos proskommatos) and rock of offence (petra skandalou)," quoted also by Paul in Rom_9:32. See note on Rom_9:32 for discussion. Proskomma (from proskoptō, to cut against) is an obstacle against which one strikes by accident, while skandalon is a trap set to trip one, but both make one fall. Too much distinction need not be made between lithos (a loose stone in the path) and petra (a ledge rising out of the ground).
For they (hoi). Causal use of the relative pronoun.
Stumble at the word, being disobedient (proskoptousin tōi logōi apeithountes). Present active indicative of proskoptō with dative case, logōi, and present active participle of apeitheō (cf. apistousin in 1Pe_2:7) as in Rom_3:1. Tōi logōi can be construed with apeithountes (stumble, being disobedient to the word).
Whereunto also they were appointed (eis ho kai etethēsan). First aorist passive indicative of tithēmi. See this idiom in 1Ti_2:7. "Their disobedience is not ordained, the penalty of their disobedience is" (Bigg). They rebelled against God and paid the penalty.
1Pe 2:9 "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:"
1Pe 2:10 "Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy."
1Pe 2:11 "Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;..."
1Pe 2:12 "Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation."IF WE WOULD ONLY LIVE AND MOVE AND WALK IN THE SPIRIT OF GOD EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY DAY THERE WOULD BE NO NEED TO EVEN WORRY ABOUT WHAT OTHERS THINK ABOUT US...LIVE AS HE LIVED BEFORE GOD! So what is salvation and what is it's true nature?
SALVATION:
From the Hebrew
ישׁע help, deliverance, salvation
ישׁע salvation
שׁלם intact state; unconcern, ease; prosperity; welfare, condition; peace; friendship; peace, salvation . Notice the meanings here, God is clear about "Salvation's Nature" here:It is an INTACT STATE of Deliverance in which exists NO concern for retrobution, an EASE in the soul, Prosperity and welfare.It is a CONDITION of your ENTIRE LIFE NOT A "STRAY THOUGHT" or "MENTAL ASSENT" It is a peaceful,friendship a RELATIONSHIP BONDED AT THE CORE of our person,seated deep inside our soul! This is the GREEK WORD FOR SALVATION and it's meaning : παράκλησις, εως f encouragement, help; comfort; appeal,request; salvation, setting free (LUK.2:25) σῴζω save (of Christian salvation); save, rescue, deliver; keep safe, preserve; cure, make well. σωτηρία, ας f salvation (in the Christian sense); deliverance,preservation, release.
SALVATION IS A RELEASE FROM SIN,IT IS WHEN GOD LITERALLY PULLS US OUT OF ONE LIFESTYLE AND PUTS US INTO HIS LIFESTYLE FOREVER!
We are Kept safe, preserved,made well and CURED FROM ALL THINGS DARK! In order for salvation to do this for us,salvation MUST then be linked directly to God's NATURE..IT IS AND MUST BE ETERNAL,TO SAY ANYTHING ELSE IS TO diminish God himself.
Briefly, the Gospel--the good news--is that each person, through Jesus Christ, can be forgiven of sin, brought back into fellowship with God, and filled with God’s Spirit for newness of life. Salvation is the bundle of benefits received by the person who believes the Gospel and entrusts his or her life to Christ. The "benefits" include forgiveness of sin, a totally right standing with God, heaven instead of hell upon physical death, new life (the Spirit of the life of Christ Jesus), awesome joy and contentment, and power to change bad habits.
A Christian is a person who has decided to trust in Jesus Christ for a right standing before God, and to turn the reins of his or her life over to Christ . After expressing this decision in prayer, the Christian receives salvation. The word salvation indicates that the Christian is saved from something. Saved from what? In short, we are saved from death—spiritual death. More specifically, we are saved from the following:
1. Hell
Hell exists. Jesus spoke about it:BUT NOTE THAT HELL IS NOT A TORTURE CHAMBER WHERE GOD MEED'S OUT HIS PERSONAL VENDETTA AGAINST YOU FOR YOUR REBELLION- RATHER...HELL IS A PLACE OF "YOUR PERSONAL CREATION" WHERE YOU TORMENT YOURSELF IN AN ENDLESS MENTAL REGRET OF UNREPEATABLE MEMORIES CAUSING GREAT PHYSICAL PAIN FOREVER! JUST AS TRUE CHRISTIANS ARE "BUILDING THEIR MANSIONS IN HEAVEN" WITH THEIR LIVES LIVED FOR CHRIST SO UNBELIEVERS "BUILD UP RETRIBUTION AGAINST THEMSELVES AS THEY CONTINUE TO REBEL AGAINST WHAT GOD SAYS!
Mat 5:22 "But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell."
Mat 10:28 "Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
Mat 23:33 "You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?"
Mark 9:43 "If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire,"
Mark 9:45 "If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell,"
Mark 9:47 "If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell,"
Those who place their trust in Christ receive mercy. Picture a court of law:
Each of us is charged with sin.
Each of us is guilty.
We can plead either innocent or guilty. In pleading innocent, we are claiming to be righteous enough to be accepted by God on our own merits. But if we plead guilty and ask for mercy, the penalty is paid by Christ, we are declared righteous by God, and we are not judged with respect to heaven or hell:
John 5:22,23 "For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him."
John 3:16-18 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."17 "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
John 5:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life."
1 Pet 3:18 "For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God"
1 John 4:10 "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
John 14:6 "Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."
Rom 3:23,24 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;"
Rom 5:8 "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
Rom 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
2 Cor 5:21 "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
Col 2:13,14 "When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross."
1 Tim 2:5 "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus"
2. Ourselves
a. Christ saves us from bad habits, destructive lifestyles, sinful tendencies, and poor character qualities
When we give ourselves to Christ, we exchange our unrighteousness for His righteousness. Our old self is crucified with Christ--buried. We get a new life--Christ's life--by way of the Holy Spirit. Therefore we are no longer slaves to sinful and destructive behavior ( gossip,anger, lying, short temper, bitterness, immorality, impurity, greed, pride, boastfulness, foul language, homosexuality, adultery, fornication, child molestation, incest, irritability, quarrelsomeness).
We will still experience temptation because we still have bodies with "fleshly" cravings, but we are able to live victoriously over sinful ways by trusting Christ to live through us:
Rom 6:1-14 "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace."
2 Cor 5:17 "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
Gal 5:24 "Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."
1 Cor 10:13 "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."
Eph 4:24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
Col 3:5 "Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry."
Bear in mind that we are saved from "ourselves" not by trying to change, but by trading ourselves for Christ. Christ gives us new life--His life.
He completely transforms us.
As we submit our will to His control, Christ manifests Himself through us--His thoughts, words, and actions become our thoughts, words, and actions. God is pleased and glorified to see His Son manifested through Christians.
b. Christ saves us from self-centeredness and discontentment! Self centeredness, self indulgence, and discontentment stem from an effort to get "life" (value, identity, love, security, fulfillment, joy, contentment, inner peace) from anything tied to ourselves and how we compare with others (skills, intelligence, possessions, physical appearance, spouse, kids, friends, success) instead of from Christ. If we do not seek life from Christ, we will naturally, perhaps unconsciously, compare ourselves with others, searching for contentment through recognition, pleasure, power, or control--but without satisfaction.
It is impossible to be "selfless" without being filled and controlled by the Spirit of Christ. Self-centeredness cannot be overcome by the most diligent effort to be selfless. Self cannot simply be removed--it has to be replaced--and only Christ can replace it. Christ frees us from the slavery of comparison with others! He fills the emptiness of our heart with Himself. And He escorts us to the Father so that we can have joy in continual fellowship with Him.
c. Christ saves us from performance-based acceptance
True Christianity is not a religion.
Religions generally require that one live according to a set of standards. If one's performance is good enough, one will go to heaven or another desirable place after the earthly life, and will have a good life on earth. If performance is substandard, the person will be rejected by the higher being and go to hell or some other unpleasant place. Christianity, by contrast, is based on the work and life of Christ imparted to us, not on our performance. Christianity teaches that no person is good enough to be accepted into God’s kingdom and, therefore, we can be accepted by God only by God’s grace and mercy, which are possible through Jesus Christ:
Eph 2:8,9 "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."
Titus 3:5 "He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy"
Put differently, our favor and acceptance before God is based on Christ, not us. We do not have to earn favor with God; indeed we can't. Christ saves from self effort by paying the penalty for our sin. We merely receive forgiveness of sin as a gift:
Rom 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Col 2:13,14 "When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross."
What's more, just as we cannot earn our way to heaven by doing good deeds, we are not burdened to earn favor with God by doing good deeds after we receive Christ. In fact, we can't. The Christian life was not intended to be a struggle to please God and pay Him back for forgiving us.
God is pleased with faith, and only with faith.
We cannot earn favor with God by trying in our own strength to be "good Christians." Just as we received Christ by faith for forgiveness of sin, we are to live by faith in Christ. We are to trust Christ to live an upright and holy life through us:
Col 2:6 "Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him"
John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."
Heb 11:6 "And without faith it is impossible to please Him"
God is pleased, not by our effort, but by our willingness to let Christ do His works through us.
We can do nothing for God, except perhaps to say "Yes" to Him, submitting to Him and letting Him have His way with us, and then giving thanks for what He's done.
Rom 14:23 "…and whatever is not from faith is sin."
1 Pet 4:11 "Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."
In sum, there is nothing performance-based in Christianity. God has done it all through Christ. We can do no more than receive and thank. Only Jesus can make a person a Christian--neither works nor ceremonies can do it. And only one person can live the Christian life:
Jesus Christ.
We need only to let Him live His life through us. Thus Christ saves the Christian from the burden of self effort and performance-based acceptance.
3. Slavery to circumstances
The Bible says that those who are in Christ overcome the world. Taken in context with all of scripture, this does not mean that Christians are given authority to rule over others. Nor does it promise Christians a life absent of struggles and disappointments.
Quite the contrary,
Jesus said those who follow Him would be persecuted and have tribulation. But the Christian overcomes the world by having, through Christ, perfect peace, joy, contentment, and inner rest in the midst of any and all circumstances:
2 Tim 3:12 "Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."
Phil 1:29 "For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,"
John 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."
John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful."
1 John 4:4 "You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world."
1 John 5:4,5 "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. 5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"
Christians have struggles just as everyone else, but can have perfect joy, inner peace, and restfulness in the midst of them. Bear in mind that there are two ways to satisfy a want--whether the want is to have something or to be relieved of difficulty. One way is to get what we want. The other way is to not want it anymore. This is what Jesus offers--not to get everything we want, but to be content in all circumstances through our relationship with Him. Jesus does not remove all our struggles, but fills us with His perfect peace and joy in the midst of them.
This is no small victory! It is true freedom. It is salvation.
4. Satan and his evil helpers
Satan is all about death; God is all about life. Satan is full of hate; God is love. Satan is all lies; God is all truth.
God is more powerful than Satan. But Satan has power-- through sin, death, and hell--over an individual who has not entrusted his or her life to Christ. God, through Christ, offers salvation from sin, death, and hell. Those who trust Christ are saved from the power Satan because Christ has defeated Satan and removed his power.
Jesus Christ has crushed Satan's head. Jesus has won victory over sin, death, hell, and fear. Below are verses about Christ's victory over Satan.
Stand firm on these verses.
Choose to believe what the verses say. Say the verses out loud, declaring that you believe what is written. Don't boast about your victory over Satan; just give praise and thanks to God for Christ.
Col 2:15 "When He [God the Father] had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him [Christ]. "
1 John 3:8 "The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil."
Rom 6:9 "knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him."
Col 1:13 "For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son"
Heb 2:14,15 "Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives."
As Christians, we reap the benefits of Christ's victory over Satan.
We are victorious with Christ, because we are now in the family of God, on the winning team, covered by Christ Himself. Christ, whose Spirit lives in us, is greater than Satan:
1 John 4:4 "You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He [Christ] who is in you than he who is in the world [Satan]."
Mat 16:18,19 "I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. 19 "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."
Luke 10:19,20 "Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven."
Satan hates Christians.
He is jealous of us because we possess the Spirit of God. He wants desperately to keep Christians from realizing the power that we have through Christ. Satan wants to blind Christians from knowing the authority that we have in Christ, and the power of Christ in us, because when we abide in Christ, we experience great joy, we love others with the supernatural love of Christ, and, as a result, those around us will come to know Christ. Paul prayed for the Christians in Ephesus, that their eyes would be opened to see this power:
Eph 1:18,19 "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe."
Eph 3:14-21 "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."
Satan also delights to see Christians engage in sinful behavior, because he knows that doing so hinders the power of Christ from working through us. Although Satan cannot make a Christian sin, he attempts to lead us into temptation and deceive us into thinking that we do not have the power to resist it. But if we abide in Christ, we will not be deceived. When we do face temptation, the power of Christ in us is able to resist it
1 Cor 10:13 "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."
Heb 2:18 "For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted."
2 Pet 2:9 ".....the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation"
2 Th 3:3 "But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one."
1 John 5:18 "We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him."
Gal 5:24 "Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."
We need only to be alert, submit to God, trust in the power of the name of Jesus Christ, and resist the devil. Satan will flee from us:
James 4:7 "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
1 Pet 5:8,9 "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world."
2 Cor 10:3-5 "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,"
Eph 6:10-13 "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm."
The word glory in the following verses indicates who God is--the sum of His awesome attributes:
Ex 33:18,21,22 "Then Moses said, "I pray You, show me Your glory!" 21 Then the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; 22 and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by."
Jn 1:14 "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."
1 Kings 8:10,11 "It happened that when the priests came from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD."
The verses below indicate that God wants us to have His glory:
Col 1:25-27 "Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."
2 Cor 4:4 "...in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
Rom 9:23,24 "And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles."
2 Thess 2:14 "It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God wants us to be filled with His glory, but this does not mean that man is God. Only God is God." And God does not share praise with humans:
Isa42:8 "I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images."
Isa 45:5,6 "I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; 6 That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other"
Isa46:5,9 "To whom would you liken Me And make Me equal and compare Me, That we would be alike? …9 "Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me"
Isa 2:22 "Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils; For why should he be esteemed?"
The above verses confirm that man is not to be praised, so having God's glory does not mean that God intends for us to be glorified or praised by other people.
Just the opposite is true.
True humility results from realizing our utter dependence on God; we see that only He is worthy of praise. When we transfer our trust from ourselves to Christ, we exchange all we are for all Christ is. As a result, we are filled--glorified--with the Spirit of Christ, God's glory. Our spiritual death is replaced by the Life of Christ.
Think of God's glory as electricity.
We will become electrified--filled with electricity--if we put our finger into a high voltage electrical outlet. We did not generate the electricity. We did not earn it through hard work. And we did not get it by being smart or talented. We simply received it and became electrified by it. We deserve no praise for it.
We need to be filled--"glorified"--with God's glory in order to be complete, whole, and full.
As mentioned above, Paul's prayer for the Christians in Ephesus was that they would understand and experience the power of the glory of Christ in them:
Eph 1:18,19 "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might"
Eph 3:13-19 "Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory. 14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God."
The following verses, written for Christians, tell of salvation to be received--apparently after conversion. Thus the verses indicate that salvation is not only the forgiveness of sin received by the new believer upon conversion, but the life of Christ that saves the Christian from "self" after conversion. It is salvation indeed to have our "self" flushed out by the Life (glory) of Christ:
Rom 5:9,10. "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."
1Tim 4:16 "Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you."
1 Pet 1: 6-9 "In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, 7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, 9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls."
2 Thess 2:13,14 "But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. 14 It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Salvation, then, entails not only forgiveness of sin that gives us a ticket to heaven instead of hell, but power--the Spirit of the life of Christ Jesus in us--to be whole in every way. The freedom referred to in the following verses applies not only to life after earth, but to life on earth through the power of Christ:
Rom 8:1,2 "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death."
John 8:34-36 "Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.35 "The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. 36 "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed."
Humans were designed to function with God’s Spirit in them. Without Christ, man is dysfunctional within himself and in relationships, like a car without an engine, or a table with only two legs. No wonder it’s called salvation--Jesus Christ not only saves us from hell, but is the cure, the only cure, to all dysfunction experienced by the human race.
Contentment, joy, inner peace, the manifestation of the supernatural love of Christ, and other aspects of wholeness through Christ, will be experienced only as the believer is abiding in Christ. Although Christians have been given the Spirit of Christ to meet all our real needs, we still tend to seek life apart from Him. Like Adam and Eve, we pick from the tree of "independence and self sufficiency." This is what the nation of Israel did in the Old Testament era; God had chosen them and filled them with His glory, but they wanted to be in control of their own lives instead of letting God take care of them. They exchanged the glory of God for "self":
Rom 1: 21-25 "For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever."
Ps 106:20 "Thus they exchanged their glory for the image of an ox that eats grass."
Jer 2:11,13 "Has a nation changed gods when they were not gods? But My people have changed their glory For that which does not profit. 13 "For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water."
Just as God wanted to fill the nation of Israel with His glory, and for them to enjoy Him, He wants to fill Christians with His glory--the Spirit of Christ. And He wants us to enjoy His presence. But we Christians are often deceived into loving the glitter of the world instead of the glory of God, and to seeking control over our circumstances instead of living by faith in Christ.
Thus the awesome paradox given in John 12:24,25:
If we don't let go of our life in this world, and allow Christ to become our identity, security, joy, and contentment, we will never bear fruit because Christ will be hindered from pouring His Life in and through us.
Jn 12:24,25 "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 "He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal."
Trials and suffering, therefore, can indeed bring great blessings for the Christian. In love God may deny us the security, comfort, control, pleasure, power, and riches that we seek in this world, at least for a time, to turn our eyes from our circumstances to Christ, the real Bread of Life, who wants to fill us with His joy and love, and bless others through us:
John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."
"If you can't DO what you SAY, don't SAY what you'll DO!"
It's not that good things haven't happened because of common man-made religion but let's get real here; a lot more of the really bad things have happened simply because we must find a better way to do what God told us!
Sure, building a better mouse trap might catch more mice but if it really is a good trap it's just that, A TRAP WITHOUT AN EXIT!
The real issue about Man-made Religion is not that it seeks to serve God but that it fails in the attempt.
In fact Religion is the single most given reason WHY people hate God and the Bible.
This not an excuse to use at Judgment BUT it is a valid reason why most people are TURNED OFF of God and into Atheist's or Agnostic's.
This is why Jesus HATED RELIGION, not the people deceived but the dogmas and teachings that misrepresented his father to the world!
Salvation IS NOT A TRAP it really is as simple as it says it is, ....who would have thought? God really did mean what he said when he first said it...WOW!
So why is it that we must AT THE RISK OF LOSING OF OUR SOULS, add too it OUR STUPID IDEAS and take away from it GOD'S ORIGINAL INTENTS all at our whim as if it were a recipe we have the right to improvise with!
And we seem to do it without the slightest fear of future judgment?
That's the biggest mistake we make because "Judgment BEGINS with the house of God."
And remember there is a COMPREHENSIVE judgment to come for ALL TEACHERS OF GOD'S TRUTH WHO STRAY FROM THE PURPOSE OF GOD!
"There is ONLY one truth and the word of God is it!"
John 3:18
"Those who believe in him won't be condemned. But those who don't believe are already condemned because they don't believe in God's only Son."
This is one of the simplest verses in scripture and one of the most commonly perverted verses by dead religion. How you might ask?
Religion cannot stand to let its people have personal freedom, meaning: A state of exemption from the power or control of another; liberty; exemption from slavery, servitude or confinement. Freedom is personal, civil, political, and religious. because along with personal freedom comes the freedom to think for one's self, and where would religion be if no one followed the priesthood in charge?
SKEPTICS HAVE FOREVER USED THE FACT THAT "SO-CALLED BELIEVERS" HAVE NOT LIVED UP TO THEIR IDEAL OF WHAT THEY TEACH AND SAY!
This IS a great argument BUT the reality of what skeptics are using against us is something else.
THE TRUTH ABOUT "REAL CHRISTIANITY AND FALSE CHRISTIANITY IS VERY IMPORTANT AND TOTALLY NEGLECTED TEACHING IN THE CHURCH! Knowing this will eliminate 90% of the skeptics arguments!
JUDE 1:3
"Beloved, my whole concern was to write to you in regard to our common salvation. [But] I found it necessary and was impelled to write you and urgently appeal to and exhort [you] to contend for the faith which was once for all [a]handed down to the saints [the faith which is that sum of Christian belief which was delivered [b]verbally to the holy people of God].
4 For certain men have crept in stealthily [[c]gaining entrance secretly by a side door]. Their doom was predicted long ago, ungodly (impious, profane) persons who pervert the grace (the spiritual blessing and favor) of our God into lawlessness and wantonness and immorality, and disown and deny our sole Master and Lord, Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
5 Now I want to remind you, though you were fully informed once for all, that though the Lord [at one time] delivered a people out of the land of Egypt, He subsequently destroyed those [of them] who did not believe [who refused to adhere to, trust in, and rely upon Him].
THE SCRIPTURES REVEAL A COMBINATION OF BOTH IDEAS,THESE THINGS HAVE BEEN AROUND A LONG TIME BUT ARE GROWING WORSE AS TIME GOES ON!THESE IMMORAL IMPOSTER'S PRETEND TO BE CHRISTIANS WHO THINK,ACT AND WALK AND TALK LIKE US BUT WHO ARE EVIL AT THE CORE (CREPT IN UNAWARES)
Hebrews 6:1
"Therefore let us go on and get past the elementary stage in the teachings and doctrine of Christ (the Messiah), advancing steadily toward the completeness and perfection that belong to spiritual maturity.
Let us not again be laying the foundation of repentance and abandonment of dead works (dead formalism) and of the faith [by which you turned] to God,
2. With teachings about purifying, the laying on of hands, the resurrection from the dead, and eternal judgment and punishment.
[These are all matters of which you should have been fully aware long, long ago.]"
NOTICE THAT THESE TEACHINGS ARE ALL WE HEAR ABOUT IN THE CHURCH TODAY!
THERE IS NOTHING UNORTHODOX IN THESE BELIEFS...BUT WE ARE NOT MEANT TO "WALLOW" IN THEM FOREVER NEVER LEARNING DEEPER TRUTHS BUT WHAT ARE THE DEEPER TRUTHS?
IT IS OF THE UTMOST CONCERN THAT ALL OF US INVESTIGATE OUR SALVATION EXPERIENCE TO MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE WE ARE TRULY SAVED,AND NOT JUST RELIGIOUSLY INDOCTRINATED TO THINK SO....OUR RELIGION IS NOT OUR FAITH AND TO JUST TRUST IN MAN'S CREATION IS IDOLATRY IN THE HIGHEST FORM!!!!
HEBREWS 6:3
"If indeed God permits, we will [now] proceed [to advanced teaching].
Heb 6:1 -
Wherefore (dio). Because of the argument already made about the difficulty of the subject and the DULLNESS of the readers.
Let us cease to speak (aphentes ton logon). Second aorist active participle of aphiēmi, to leave off or behind.
Of the first principles of Christ (tēs archēs tou Christou). Objective genitive Christou (about Christ).
"Leaving behind the discussion of the beginning about Christ," another way of saying again 'ta stoicheia tēs archēs tōn logiōn tou theou' of Heb_5:12.
And press on (kai pherōmetha).
Volitive present subjunctive passive, "Let us be borne on" (both the writer and the readers).
The Pythagorean Schools use pherōmetha in precisely this sense of being borne on to a higher stage of instruction.
Bleek quotes several instances of Greek writers using together as here of aphentes pherōmetha (Eurip., Androm. 393, for instance).
Unto perfection (epi tēn teleiotēta).
Old word from teleios mature, adults as in Heb_5:14. Only twice in N.T. (here and Col_3:14).
Let us go on to the stage of adults, not babes, able to masticate solid spiritual food. The writer will assume that the readers are adults in his discussion of the topic.
Not laying again the foundation (mē palin themelion kataballomenoi). The regular idiom for laying down the foundation of a building (themelion, Luk_6:48.).
The metaphor is common (1Co_3:11) and the foundation is important, but one cannot be laying the foundation always if he is to build the house.
There are six items mentioned here as part of the "foundation," though the accusative didachēn in apposition with themelion may mean that there are only four included in the themelion.
Two are qualitative genitives after themelion (metanoias and pisteōs). What is meant by "dead works" (apo nekrōn ergōn) is not clear (Heb_9:14), though the reference may be to touching a corpse (Num_19:1.; Num_31:19).
There are frequent allusions to the deadening power of sin
(Jam_2:17, Jam_2:26; Joh_7:25; Rom_6:1, Rom_6:11; Rom_7:8; Col_2:13; Eph_2:1, Eph_2:5).
The use of repentance and faith together occurs also elsewhere (Mar_1:15; Act_20:21; 1Th_1:9).
4 "For it is impossible [to restore and bring again to repentance] those who have been once for all enlightened,
WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?
I BELIEVE THEM TO BE FALSE CONVERTS ; CONVERTED TO A CHURCH MEMBERSHIP OR A GREAT IDEA ABOUT CHRIST GIVING THEM JOY,PEACE AND FIXING THEIR PROBLEMS ,WHO COME ONLY SO FAR IN AND CAN GO NO FARTHER BECAUSE OF SHALLOW COMMITMENT AND FALSE REPENTANCE ,..THAT IS REPENTANCE NOT BASED IN TRUE KNOWLEDGE OF PERSONAL SIN AND ITS CONSEQUENCES!
IF SOMEONE BREAKS GOD'S LAW AND HAS NO REAL KNOWLEDGE OF WHY IT'S WRONG,OR WHAT IT MEANS TO GOD OR THEIR SOUL THEN IT IS FALSE REPENTANCE,BASED ONLY ON GETTING CAUGHT IN THE ACT OR SIMPLY PRAYING A PRAYER WITHOUT MEANING,THESE PEOPLE ARE SHALLOW HEARERS AND EXIST FOR A TIME AND SOON FALL AWAY THINKING THEY ARE STILL SAVED!)
who have consciously
(WITH FULL KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT THEY ARE DOING)
tasted
(TASTING AND EATING OF ARE TWO DIFFERENT IDEAS IN SCRIPTURE AND SHOULD NEVER BE MIXED,TASTING IS ONLY THE BEGINNING OF THE PROCESS OF EATING OF DOCTRINE)
(MAKING A DECISION BY PRAYING A SINNERS PRAYER TO BE SAVED BY)
the heavenly gift
(OF SALVATION CAN BACKFIRE IF THERE IS NO REAL FOLLOWUP TO THE INDIVIDUALS LIFE,THUS THE EXPERIENCE IS NOT ROOTED IN THEM AND PROVED TO THEIR MIND TO BE REAL,THIS CAN RESULT IN A "FALSE CONVERSION " THAT LOOKS AND SOUNDS REAL BUT HAS NO DEPTH OF REALITY IN CHRIST..THIS JUST WHAT RELIGION OFFERS:
A COUNTERFEIT FAITH,AND IF THEY BELIEVE THEY ARE SAVED BECAUSE OF A SHALLOW PRAYER AT SOME POINT IN THEIR LIFE THEN THE DECEPTION IS COMPLETE!!)
and have become sharers of the Holy Spirit,
(MANY TIMES A PERSON CAN BE SHARING THE HOLY SPIRIT BY HANGING AROUND REAL BELIEVERS WHO ARE REALLY SAVED, DEVELOPING A COPIED LIFESTYLE..
THEY DON'T REALIZE THEY ARE "CLONED CHRISTIANS" THEN AGAIN THERE ARE THOSE IN THE BODY WHO KNOW FULL WELL THEY ARE NOT SAVED AND INTEND HARM TO CHRIST'S CHURCH,THEY ARE IMPLANTS, SPIES,FROM SATAN WHO DESTROY WHATEVER THEIR HANDS AND MOUTH'S TOUCH!!)
5 And have felt
(ANYONE WHO GOES TO CHURCH CAN FEEL HOW GOOD THE WORD OF GOD IS BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE BORN AGAIN!)
how good the Word of God is and the mighty powers of the age and world to come,
(THEY KNOW ALL ABOUT GOD,THE CHURCH,AND PROPHECY)
6. IF
(THIS IS THE KEY WORD HERE)
they then deviate from the faith and turn away from their allegiance--[it is impossible] to bring them back to repentance, for (because, while, as long as) they nail upon the cross the Son of God afresh [as far as they are concerned] and are holding [Him] up to contempt and shame and public disgrace."
(ONCE THEY CAN REALIZE WHAT IS HAPPENING AND REPENT AND TRULY GET SAVED THEY CAN COME INTO THE BODY,BUT THOSE WHO NEVER REPENT ARE DOOMED TO ETERNAL HELL BECAUSE OF THEIR OWN DECISION TO GO THERE!!)
Heb 6:6 -
It is impossible to renew them again (adunaton palin anakainizein). The adunaton (impossible) comes first in Heb_6:4 without estin (is) and there is no "them" in the Greek.
There are three other instances of adunaton in Hebrews (Heb_6:18; Heb_10:4; Heb_11:6).
The present active infinitive of anakainizō (late verb, ana, kainos, here only in the N.T., but anakainoō, 2Co_4:16; Col_3:10) with adunaton bluntly denies the possibility of renewal for apostates from Christ (cf. 3:12-4:2).
It is a terrible picture and cannot be toned down. The one ray of light comes in Heb_6:8-12, not here.
Seeing they crucify to themselves afresh (anastraurountas heautois).
Present active participle (accusative plural agreeing with tous ... parapesontas) of anastauroō, the usual verb for crucify in the old Greek so that ana- here does not mean "again" or "afresh," but "up," sursum, not rursum (Vulgate).
This is the reason why renewal for such apostates is impossible. They crucify Christ.
And put him to an open shame (kai paradeigmatizontas). Present active participle of paradeigmatizō, late verb from paradeigma (example), to make an example of, and in bad sense to expose to disgrace.
And put him to an open shame (kai paradeigmatizontas). Present active participle of paradeigmatizō, late verb from paradeigma (example), to make an example of, and in bad sense to expose to disgrace.
Simplex verb deigmatisai in this sense in Mat_1:19.
NOTICE THAT THEY CANNOT EVER COME BACK ONCE THEY GO BACK..WHY ?
BECAUSE SALVATION HERE IS NOT COMPLETE,THE PROCESS OF SALVATION HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED AT THE ROOTS, HAVING PLANTED THEMSELVES IN SHALLOW DOCTRINAL ISSUES RATHER THAN GOING ON INTO THE DEEPER MEAT AND RICH EARTH TO FOLLOW THIS BEGINNING!
SOME WHO ARE IN THIS STATE CAN BE SAVED FROM IT WITH THE HELP OF PATIENT BELIEVERS:
JUDE1:20
"But you, beloved, build yourselves up [founded] on your most holy faith [[d]make progress, rise like an edifice higher and higher], praying in the Holy Spirit;
21Guard and keep yourselves in the love of God; expect and patiently wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)--[which will bring you] unto life eternal.
22And refute [so as to] convict some who dispute with you, and on some have mercy who waver and doubt.
23[Strive to] save others, snatching [them] out of [the] fire; on others take pity [but] with fear, loathing even the garment spotted by the flesh and polluted by their sensuality."
YOU WILL NOTICE THAT WE SEE TWO KINDS OF SOIL MENTIONED AND THUS TWO KINDS OF RESULTS FROM THE SAME GARDEN:
HEBREWS 6: 7
"For the soil which has drunk the rain that repeatedly falls upon it and produces vegetation useful to those for whose benefit it is cultivated partakes of a blessing from God
8 But if [that same soil] persistently bears thorns and thistles, it is considered worthless and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned."
THE SAME SOIL OF THE HEART CAN PRODUCE A DIFFERENT RESULT,THE SAME SALVATION EXPERIENCE CAN RESULT IN TWO DIFFERENT ENDS,THE KEY TO UNDERSTAND THIS IS FOUND IN :
MARK 4: 13
"And He said to them, Do you not discern and understand this parable? How then is it possible for you to discern and understand all the parables?
14The sower sows the Word.
15The ones along the path are those who have the Word sown [in their hearts], but when they hear, Satan comes at once and [by force] takes away the message which is sown in them.
16And in the same way the ones sown upon stony ground are those who, when they hear the Word, at once receive and accept and welcome it with joy;
17And they have no real root in themselves, and so they endure for a little while; then when trouble or persecution arises on account of the Word, they immediately are offended (become displeased, indignant, resentful) and they stumble and fall away.
18And the ones sown among the thorns are others who hear the Word;
19Then the cares and anxieties of the world and distractions of the age, and the pleasure and delight and false glamour and deceitfulness of riches, and the craving and passionate desire for other things creep in and choke and suffocate the Word, and it becomes fruitless.
20And those sown on the good (well-adapted) soil are the ones who hear the Word and receive and accept and welcome it and bear fruit--some thirty times as much as was sown, some sixty times as much, and some [even] a hundred times as much.
21And He said to them, Is the lamp brought in to be put under a [f]peck measure or under a bed, and not [to be put] on the lampstand?
22[[g]Things are hidden temporarily only as a means to revelation.] For there is nothing hidden except to be revealed, nor is anything [temporarily] kept secret except in order that it may be made known.
23If any man has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him perceive and comprehend. 24And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [h][of thought and study] you give [to [i]the truth you hear] will be the measure [j][of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you--and more [besides] will be given to you who hear."
YOU CAN HEAR, AND HEAR AND HEAR THE WORD OF GOD ABOUT THE SAME THING OVER AND OVER BUT IF YOU DO NOT ACT ON IT TO MAKE THE WORD ONE WITH YOUR LIFE YOUR WASTING YOUR TIME!
ONLY ACTION PRODUCES FRUIT...INACTION ONLY STINKS UP THE POND AND MAKES IT FIT ONLY FOR DEVILS TO DWELL IN, IF THOSE WHO KNOW THE MEAT DO NOT REACH OUT TO THEM THEY WILL DIE IN BASIC DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH AND NEVER MOVE ON...THESE ARE THOSE IN DANGER OF FALLING AWAY IN HEBREWS 6!
MARK 4:30
"And He said, With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use to illustrate and explain it?
31 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all seeds upon the earth;
32 Yet after it is sown, it grows up and becomes the greatest of all garden herbs and puts out large branches, so that the birds.....
(THESE ARE THE FALSE CHRISTIAN SECTS AND FALSE RELIGIONS MIXED IN UNDER THE BIG UMBRELLA OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD)
of the air.....
(THE DEVILS OF FALSE REPENTANCE AND DOCTRINE,WHICH)
are able to make nests
(LOOK ORTHODOX)
and dwell.....
(LIVE WITHOUT NOTICE)
in its shade.
(THE COMFORT OF DARKNESS FROM THE SON OF GOD'S STARE....AT LEAST THEY THINK SO ANYWAY!)
Mat 6:21
"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
22 The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is sound,.....
(Thayer Definition:
1) simple, single
2) whole
3) good fulfilling its office, sound
3a) of the eye your entire body will be full of light.)
DON'T BE CONCERNED WITH SOMETHING BEYOND YOUR GRASP,GROW WHERE YOU ARE, LEARN ALL YOU CAN RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED..ONLY GOD CAN MOVE YOU WHEN HE DESIRES IT!
23 But if your eye is unsound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the very light in you [your [r]conscience] is darkened, how dense is that darkness!
{IF WHAT YOU BELIEVE IS LIGHT FROM GOD AND IT TURNS OUT TO BE DARKNESS BECAUSE OF SELF DECEPTION,HOW GREAT WILL THAT KIND OF DARKNESS BE!]
24 No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise and be [s]against the other.
You cannot serve God and mammon ([t]deceitful riches, money, possessions, or [u]whatever is trusted in)."
TRUSTING IN RELIGION IS DANGEROUS,BECAUSE WE CANNOT BE SURE OF OUR POSITION THERE..IT'S BASED ON PERSONAL WORKS THAT WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH TO PLEASE GOD!
TRUE SALVATION IS ALWAYS BASED ON HIS WORK FOR US..WHICH IS GRACE!
2Ti 2:4
"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."
No soldier on service (oudeis strateuomenos). "No one serving as a soldier." See note on 1Co_9:7 for this old verb and 2Co_10:3; 1Ti_1:18 for the metaphorical use.
Entangleth himself (empleketai). Old compound, to inweave (see Mat_27:29 for plekō), in N.T. only here and 2Pe_2:20. Present middle (direct) indicative.
In the affairs (tais pragmateiais). Old word (from pragmateuomai, Luk_19:13), business, occupation, only here in N.T.
Of this life (tou biou). No "this" in the Greek, "of life" (course of life as in 1Ti_2:2, not existence zōē).
Him who enrolled him as a soldier (tōi stratologēsanti).
Dative case after aresēi (first aorist active subjunctive of areskō, to please, 1Th_2:4, purpose clause with hina) of the articular first aorist active participle of stratologeō, literary Koiné[28928]š word (stratologos, from stratos and legō), only here in N.T.
2Ti 3:1
"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come."
2Ti 3:2
"For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,.."
2Ti 3:3
"Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,..."
2Ti 3:4
"Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;...."
2Ti 3:5
"Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."
2Ti 3:6
"For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,..."
2Ti 3:7
"Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."
2Ti 3:5 -
A form of godliness (morphōsin eusebeias).
Having denied (ērnēmenoi).
Perfect middle participle of arneomai
Power (dunamin).
See 1Co_4:20. See Rom_1:29-31 for similar description.
Turn away (apotrepou). Present middle (direct) imperative of apotrepō, "turn thyself away from." Old verb, only here in N.T.
Turn away (apotrepou). Present middle (direct) imperative of apotrepō, "turn thyself away from." Old verb, only here in N.T.
2Ti 3:7 -
Never able to come to the knowledge of the truth (mēdepote eis epignōsin alētheias elthein dunamena).
Pathetic picture of these hypnotized women without intellectual power to cut through the fog of words and, though always learning scraps of things, they never come into the full knowledge (epignōsin) of the truth in Christ. And yet they even pride themselves on belonging to the intelligentsia!
2Ti 4:1
"I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;.."
2Ti 4:2
"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine."
2Ti 4:3
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;..."
2Ti 4:4
"And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."
2Ti 4:3 -
A time when (kairos hote). One of the akairōs (out of season) times.
Will not endure (ouk anexontai). Future middle (direct) of anechō.
"Will not hold themselves back from" (Col_3:13).
Having itching ears (knēthomenoi tēn akoēn). Present middle (causative) participle of knēthō, late and rare form of the Attic knaō, to scratch, to tickle, here only in N.T. "Getting the ears (the hearing, tēn akoēn) tickled." The Vulgate has prurientes. Cf. the Athenians (Act_17:21). Clement of Alexandria tells of speakers tickling (knēthontes) the ears of those who want to be tickled.
This is the temptation of the merely "popular" preacher, to furnish the latest tickle.
2Ti 4:4 -
Will turn away their ears (tēn akoēn apostrepsousin). Future active of old verb apostrephō. See 1Co_12:17 for this use of akoē. The people stopped their ears and rushed at Stephen in Act_7:57.
Will turn aside (ektrapēsontai). Second future passive of ektrepō.
They prefer "myths" to "the truth" as some today turn away to "humanism," "bolshevism," "new thought" or any other fad that will give a new momentary thrill to their itching ears and morbid minds.
1Pe 2:1
"Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,..."
1Pe 2:2
"As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:.."
1Pe 2:3
"If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious."
1Pe 2:1 -
Putting away therefore (apothemenoi oun). Second aorist middle participle of apotithēmi, old and common verb, in metaphorical sense either to cleanse defilements (1Pe_3:21; Jam_1:21) or to put off clothing (Rom_13:12; Col_3:5.; Eph_4:22). Either sense suits here.
Therefore (oun) because of the new birth (1Pe_1:23) and the new life demanded.
Wickedness (kakian). This old word, from kakos (evil), in the ancients meant vice of any kind and note pāsan (all) here.
Wickedness (kakian). This old word, from kakos (evil), in the ancients meant vice of any kind and note pāsan (all) here.
Guile (dolon). Old word (from delō, to catch with bait), deceit.
Hypocrisies (hupokriseis). Singular (hupokrisin) in the best MSS. See 1Pe_1:22 (anupokriton) and Mar_7:6. for Christ’s denunciation of hypocrites which the disciples did not understand, including Peter (Mat_15:16.).
Envies (phthonous). Genuine here, not phonous (murders), as B has it. For the word see Mat_27:18.
Evil speakings (katalalias). Late word (from katalalos, defamer, Rom_1:30), in N.T. only here and 2Co_12:20. "Backbitings." For verb see note on 1Pe_2:12.
1Pe 2:2 -
As newborn babes (hōs artigennēta brephē). Brephos, old word, originally unborn child (Luk_1:41-44), then infant (Luk_2:12), here figuratively, like nēpioi.
Artigennēta is a late and rare compound (Lucian, imperial inscription) from arti and gennaō, with evident allusion to anagegennēmenoi in 1Pe_1:23, probably meaning that they were recent converts, possibly slight proof that the Epistle written before Romans by Paul (Kuhl).
Long for (epipothēsate). First aorist (constative) active imperative of epipotheō, old verb for intense yearning (Phi_2:26).
The spiritual milk which is without guile (to logikon adolon gala). Gala is old word for milk as in 1Co_9:7 and as metaphor in 1Co_3:2.
Adolos is an old compound (here alone in N.T.) adjective (alpha privative and dolos deceit), unadulterated milk which, alas, is so hard to get.
Logikon is an old adjective in ̇ikos, from logos (reason, speech), in N.T. only here and Rom_12:1, used here with allusion to logou (1Pe_1:23) and rēma (1Pe_1:25), "the sincere milk of the word" ("the milk belonging to the word," either the milk which is the word or the milk contained in the word, that is Christ).
So Bigg holds.
But in Rom_12:1 Paul uses logikon in the sense of "rational" or "spiritual," and that idea is possible here as Hort holds. In the Pelagia legend (Usener) we have the phrase tōn logikōn probatōn tou Christou (the spiritual or rational sheep of Christ).
That ye may grow thereby (hina en autōi auxēthēte). Purpose clause with hina and the first aorist passive subjunctive of auxanō, old and common verb to grow. See this same metaphor in Col_2:19; Eph_4:15.
Peter uses the word of God as the food for growth, especially for babes in Christ, not emphasizing the distinction from solid food (brōma) made in 1Co_3:2; Heb_5:13.
"Salvation (sōtērian) here is final salvation."
1Pe 2:7
"Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,..."
1Pe 2:8
"And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed."
1Pe 2:7 -
The preciousness (hē timē). Or "the honour." Explanation of entimon and ou mē kataischunthēi and only true "for you which believe" (tois pisteuousin ethical dative of articular present active participle of pisteuō to believe).
But for such as disbelieve (apistousin de). Dative present active participle again of apisteō, opposite of pisteuō (Luk_24:11).
Was made the head of the corner (egenēthē eis kephalēn gōnias).
This verse is from Psa_118:22 with evident allusion to Isa_28:16 (kephalēn gōnias = akrogōniaion).
See Mat_21:42; Mar_12:10; Luk_20:17, where Jesus himself quotes Psa_118:22 and applies the rejection of the stone by the builders (hoi oikodomountes, the experts) to the Sanhedrin’s conduct toward him.
Peter quoted it also (and applied it as Jesus had done) in his speech at the Beautiful Gate (Act_4:11). Here he quotes it again to the same purpose.
1Pe 2:8 -
And (kai). Peter now quotes Isa_8:14 and gives a new turn to the previous quotation.
To the disbelieving, Christ was indeed "a stone of stumbling (lithos proskommatos) and rock of offence (petra skandalou)," quoted also by Paul in Rom_9:32. See note on Rom_9:32 for discussion.
Proskomma (from proskoptō, to cut against) is an obstacle against which one strikes by accident, while skandalon is a trap set to trip one, but both make one fall.
Too much distinction need not be made between lithos (a loose stone in the path) and petra (a ledge rising out of the ground).
For they (hoi). Causal use of the relative pronoun.
Stumble at the word, being disobedient (proskoptousin tōi logōi apeithountes). Present active indicative of proskoptō with dative case, logōi, and present active participle of apeitheō (cf. apistousin in 1Pe_2:7) as in Rom_3:1. Tōi logōi can be construed with apeithountes (stumble, being disobedient to the word).
Whereunto also they were appointed (eis ho kai etethēsan). First aorist passive indicative of tithēmi. See this idiom in 1Ti_2:7.
"Their disobedience is not ordained, the penalty of their disobedience is" (Bigg). They rebelled against God and paid the penalty.
1Pe 2:9
"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:"
1Pe 2:10
"Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy."
1Pe 2:11
"Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;..."
1Pe 2:12
"Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation."
IF WE WOULD ONLY LIVE AND MOVE AND WALK IN THE SPIRIT OF GOD EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY DAY THERE WOULD BE NO NEED TO EVEN WORRY ABOUT WHAT OTHERS THINK ABOUT US...LIVE AS HE LIVED BEFORE GOD!
So what is salvation and what is it's true nature?
SALVATION:
From the Hebrew
ישׁע help, deliverance, salvation
ישׁע salvation
ישׁע help, deliverance, salvation
ישׁע salvation
שׁלם intact state;
unconcern,
ease;
prosperity;
welfare,
condition;
peace;
friendship;
peace,
salvation .
Notice the meanings here, God is clear about "Salvation's Nature"
here:
It is an INTACT STATE of Deliverance in which exists NO concern for retrobution, an EASE in the soul, Prosperity and welfare.
It is a CONDITION of your ENTIRE LIFE NOT A "STRAY THOUGHT" or "MENTAL ASSENT" It is a peaceful,friendship a RELATIONSHIP BONDED AT THE CORE of our person,seated deep inside our soul!
This is the GREEK WORD FOR SALVATION and it's meaning :
παράκλησις, εως f
encouragement,
help;
comfort;
appeal,
request;
salvation,
setting free
(LUK.2:25) σῴζω save (of Christian salvation);
save,
rescue,
deliver;
keep safe,
preserve;
cure,
make well.
σωτηρία, ας f salvation (in the Christian sense);
deliverance,
preservation,
release.
SALVATION IS A RELEASE FROM SIN,IT IS WHEN GOD LITERALLY PULLS US OUT OF ONE LIFESTYLE AND PUTS US INTO HIS LIFESTYLE FOREVER!
We are Kept safe, preserved,made well and CURED FROM ALL THINGS DARK! In order for salvation to do this for us,salvation MUST then be linked directly to God's NATURE..IT IS AND MUST BE ETERNAL,TO SAY ANYTHING ELSE IS TO diminish God himself.
Briefly, the Gospel--the good news--is that each person, through Jesus Christ, can be forgiven of sin, brought back into fellowship with God, and filled with God’s Spirit for newness of life.
Salvation is the bundle of benefits received by the person who believes the Gospel and entrusts his or her life to Christ.
The "benefits" include forgiveness of sin, a totally right standing with God, heaven instead of hell upon physical death, new life (the Spirit of the life of Christ Jesus), awesome joy and contentment, and power to change bad habits
.
A Christian is a person who has decided to trust in Jesus Christ for a right standing before God, and to turn the reins of his or her life over to Christ .
A Christian is a person who has decided to trust in Jesus Christ for a right standing before God, and to turn the reins of his or her life over to Christ .
After expressing this decision in prayer, the Christian receives salvation.
The word salvation indicates that the Christian is saved from something. Saved from what?
In short, we are saved from death—spiritual death. More specifically, we are saved from the following:
1. Hell
Hell exists.
Jesus spoke about it:
BUT NOTE THAT HELL IS NOT A TORTURE CHAMBER WHERE GOD MEED'S OUT HIS PERSONAL VENDETTA AGAINST YOU FOR YOUR REBELLION-
RATHER...HELL IS A PLACE OF "YOUR PERSONAL CREATION" WHERE YOU TORMENT YOURSELF IN AN ENDLESS MENTAL REGRET OF UNREPEATABLE MEMORIES CAUSING GREAT PHYSICAL PAIN FOREVER!
JUST AS TRUE CHRISTIANS ARE "BUILDING THEIR MANSIONS IN HEAVEN" WITH THEIR LIVES LIVED FOR CHRIST SO UNBELIEVERS "BUILD UP RETRIBUTION AGAINST THEMSELVES AS THEY CONTINUE TO REBEL AGAINST WHAT GOD SAYS!
Mat 5:22
"But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, 'You good-for-nothing,' shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, 'You fool,' shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell."
Mat 10:28
"Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
Mat 23:33
"You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?"
Mark 9:43
"If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire,"
Mark 9:45
"If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell,"
Mark 9:47
"If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell,"
Those who place their trust in Christ receive mercy. Picture a court of law:
Each of us is charged with sin.
Each of us is guilty.
We can plead either innocent or guilty. In pleading innocent, we are claiming to be righteous enough to be accepted by God on our own merits.
But if we plead guilty and ask for mercy, the penalty is paid by Christ, we are declared righteous by God, and we are not judged with respect to heaven or hell:
John 5:22,23
"For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him."
John 3:16-18
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."
17 "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
John 5:24
"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life."
1 Pet 3:18
"For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God"
1 John 4:10
"In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
John 14:6
"Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."
Rom 3:23,24
"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;"
Rom 5:8
"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
Rom 6:23
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
2 Cor 5:21
"He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
Col 2:13,14
"When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross."
1 Tim 2:5
"For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus"
2. Ourselves
a. Christ saves us from bad habits, destructive lifestyles, sinful tendencies, and poor character qualities
When we give ourselves to Christ, we exchange our unrighteousness for His righteousness. Our old self is crucified with Christ--buried.
We get a new life--Christ's life--by way of the Holy Spirit. Therefore we are no longer slaves to sinful and destructive behavior
( gossip,
anger,
lying,
short temper,
bitterness,
immorality,
impurity,
greed,
pride,
boastfulness,
foul language,
homosexuality,
adultery,
fornication,
child molestation,
incest,
irritability,
quarrelsomeness).
We will still experience temptation because we still have bodies with "fleshly" cravings, but we are able to live victoriously over sinful ways by trusting Christ to live through us:
Rom 6:1-14
"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?
2 May it never be!
How shall we who died to sin still live in it?
3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,
6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
7 for he who has died is freed from sin.
8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.
10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts,
13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace."
2 Cor 5:17
"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
Gal 5:24
"Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."
1 Cor 10:13
"No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."
Eph 4:24
and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
Col 3:5
"Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry."
Bear in mind that we are saved from "ourselves" not by trying to change, but by trading ourselves for Christ. Christ gives us new life--His life.
He completely transforms us.
As we submit our will to His control, Christ manifests Himself through us--His thoughts, words, and actions become our thoughts, words, and actions.
God is pleased and glorified to see His Son manifested through Christians.
b. Christ saves us from
self-centeredness and discontentment!
Self centeredness, self indulgence, and discontentment stem from an effort to get "life"
(value, identity, love, security, fulfillment, joy, contentment, inner peace)
from anything tied to ourselves and how we compare with others
(skills, intelligence, possessions, physical appearance, spouse, kids, friends, success)
instead of from Christ.
If we do not seek life from Christ, we will naturally, perhaps unconsciously, compare ourselves with others, searching for contentment through recognition, pleasure, power, or control--but without satisfaction.
It is impossible to be "selfless" without being filled and controlled by the Spirit of Christ.
Self-centeredness cannot be overcome by the most diligent effort to be selfless.
Self cannot simply be removed--it has to be replaced--and only Christ can replace it.
Christ frees us from the slavery of comparison with others! He fills the emptiness of our heart with Himself.
And He escorts us to the Father so that we can have joy in continual fellowship with Him.
c. Christ saves us from performance-based acceptance
True Christianity is not a religion.
Religions generally require that one live according to a set of standards. If one's performance is good enough, one will go to heaven or another desirable place after the earthly life, and will have a good life on earth.
If performance is substandard, the person will be rejected by the higher being and go to hell or some other unpleasant place. Christianity, by contrast, is based on the work and life of Christ imparted to us, not on our performance.
Christianity teaches that no person is good enough to be accepted into God’s kingdom and, therefore, we can be accepted by God only by God’s grace and mercy, which are possible through Jesus Christ:
Eph 2:8,9
"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.
9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."
Titus 3:5
"He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy"
Put differently, our favor and acceptance before God is based on Christ, not us. We do not have to earn favor with God; indeed we can't. Christ saves from self effort by paying the penalty for our sin.
We merely receive forgiveness of sin as a gift:
Rom 6:23
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Col 2:13,14
"When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,
14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross."
What's more, just as we cannot earn our way to heaven by doing good deeds, we are not burdened to earn favor with God by doing good deeds after we receive Christ. In fact, we can't.
The Christian life was not intended to be a struggle to please God and pay Him back for forgiving us.
God is pleased with faith, and only with faith.
We cannot earn favor with God by trying in our own strength to be "good Christians." Just as we received Christ by faith for forgiveness of sin, we are to live by faith in Christ. We are to trust Christ to live an upright and holy life through us:
Col 2:6
"Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him"
John 15:5
"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."
Heb 11:6
"And without faith it is impossible to please Him"
God is pleased, not by our effort, but by our willingness to let Christ do His works through us.
We can do nothing for God, except perhaps to say "Yes" to Him, submitting to Him and letting Him have His way with us, and then giving thanks for what He's done.
Rom 14:23
"…and whatever is not from faith is sin."
1 Pet 4:11
"Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."
In sum, there is nothing performance-based in Christianity. God has done it all through Christ.
We can do no more than receive and thank. Only Jesus can make a person a Christian--neither works nor ceremonies can do it. And only one person can live the Christian life:
Jesus Christ.
We need only to let Him live His life through us. Thus Christ saves the Christian from the burden of self effort and performance-based acceptance.
3. Slavery to circumstances
The Bible says that those who are in Christ overcome the world. Taken in context with all of scripture, this does not mean that Christians are given authority to rule over others. Nor does it promise Christians a life absent of struggles and disappointments.
Quite the contrary,
Jesus said those who follow Him would be persecuted and have tribulation. But the Christian overcomes the world by having, through Christ, perfect peace, joy, contentment, and inner rest in the midst of any and all circumstances:
2 Tim 3:12
"Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."
Phil 1:29
"For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,"
John 16:33
"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."
John 14:27
"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful."
1 John 4:4
"You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world."
1 John 5:4,5
"For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith.
5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"
Christians have struggles just as everyone else, but can have perfect joy, inner peace, and restfulness in the midst of them.
Bear in mind that there are two ways to satisfy a want--whether the want is to have something or to be relieved of difficulty. One way is to get what we want. The other way is to not want it anymore.
This is what Jesus offers--not to get everything we want, but to be content in all circumstances through our relationship with Him.
Jesus does not remove all our struggles, but fills us with His perfect peace and joy in the midst of them.
This is no small victory! It is true freedom. It is salvation.
4. Satan and his evil helpers
Satan is all about death;
God is all about life.
Satan is full of hate;
God is love.
Satan is all lies;
God is all truth.
God is more powerful than Satan.
But Satan has power-- through sin, death, and hell--over an individual who has not entrusted his or her life to Christ.
God, through Christ, offers salvation from sin, death, and hell.
Those who trust Christ are saved from the power Satan because Christ has defeated Satan and removed his power.
Jesus Christ has crushed Satan's head.
Jesus has won victory over sin, death, hell, and fear.
Below are verses about Christ's victory over Satan.
Stand firm on these verses.
Choose to believe what the verses say.
Say the verses out loud, declaring that you believe what is written. Don't boast about your victory over Satan; just give praise and thanks to God for Christ.
Col 2:15
"When He [God the Father] had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him [Christ]. "
1 John 3:8
"The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil."
Rom 6:9
"knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him."
Col 1:13
"For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son"
Heb 2:14,15
"Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
15 and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives."
As Christians, we reap the benefits of Christ's victory over Satan.
We are victorious with Christ, because we are now in the family of God, on the winning team, covered by Christ Himself. Christ, whose Spirit lives in us, is greater than Satan:
1 John 4:4
"You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He [Christ] who is in you than he who is in the world [Satan]."
Mat 16:18,19
"I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
19 "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."
Luke 10:19,20
"Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.
20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven."
Satan hates Christians.
He is jealous of us because we possess the Spirit of God.
He wants desperately to keep Christians from realizing the power that we have through Christ.
Satan wants to blind Christians from knowing the authority that we have in Christ, and the power of Christ in us, because when we abide in Christ, we experience great joy, we love others with the supernatural love of Christ, and, as a result, those around us will come to know Christ.
Paul prayed for the Christians in Ephesus, that their eyes would be opened to see this power:
Eph 1:18,19
"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe."
Eph 3:14-21
"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,
16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,
21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."
Satan also delights to see Christians engage in sinful behavior, because he knows that doing so hinders the power of Christ from working through us.
Although Satan cannot make a Christian sin, he attempts to lead us into temptation and deceive us into thinking that we do not have the power to resist it. But if we abide in Christ, we will not be deceived.
When we do face temptation, the power of Christ in us is able to resist it
1 Cor 10:13
"No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it."
Heb 2:18
"For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted."
2 Pet 2:9
".....the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation"
2 Th 3:3
"But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one."
1 John 5:18
"We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him."
Gal 5:24
"Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."
We need only to be alert, submit to God, trust in the power of the name of Jesus Christ, and resist the devil. Satan will flee from us:
James 4:7
"Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
1 Pet 5:8,9
"Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world."
2 Cor 10:3-5
"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,"
Eph 6:10-13
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm."
The word glory in the following verses indicates who God is--the sum of His awesome attributes:
Ex 33:18,21,22
"Then Moses said, "I pray You, show me Your glory!"
21 Then the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock;
22 and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by."
Jn 1:14
"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."
1 Kings 8:10,11
"It happened that when the priests came from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD,
11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD."
The verses below indicate that God wants us to have His glory:
Col 1:25-27
"Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God,
26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints,
27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."
2 Cor 4:4
"...in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
Rom 9:23,24
"And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory,
24 even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles."
2 Thess 2:14
"It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
God wants us to be filled with His glory, but this does not mean that man is God. Only God is God."
And God does not share praise with humans:
Isa42:8
"I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images."
Isa 45:5,6
"I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me;
6 That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other"
Isa46:5,9
"To whom would you liken Me And make Me equal and compare Me, That we would be alike? …
9 "Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me"
Isa 2:22
"Stop regarding man, whose breath of life is in his nostrils; For why should he be esteemed?"
The above verses confirm that man is not to be praised, so having God's glory does not mean that God intends for us to be glorified or praised by other people.
Just the opposite is true.
True humility results from realizing our utter dependence on God; we see that only He is worthy of praise. When we transfer our trust from ourselves to Christ, we exchange all we are for all Christ is.
As a result, we are filled--glorified--with the Spirit of Christ, God's glory. Our spiritual death is replaced by the Life of Christ.
Think of God's glory as electricity.
We will become electrified--filled with electricity--if we put our finger into a high voltage electrical outlet. We did not generate the electricity.
We did not earn it through hard work. And we did not get it by being smart or talented.
We simply received it and became electrified by it.
We deserve no praise for it.
We need to be filled--"glorified"--with God's glory in order to be complete, whole, and full.
As mentioned above, Paul's prayer for the Christians in Ephesus was that they would understand and experience the power of the glory of Christ in them:
Eph 1:18,19
"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might"
Eph 3:13-19
"Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory.
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,
16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God."
The following verses, written for Christians, tell of salvation to be received--apparently after conversion. Thus the verses indicate that salvation is not only the forgiveness of sin received by the new believer upon conversion, but the life of Christ that saves the Christian from "self" after conversion.
It is salvation indeed to have our "self" flushed out by the Life (glory) of Christ:
Rom 5:9,10.
"Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."
1Tim 4:16
"Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you."
1 Pet 1: 6-9
"In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,
7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls."
2 Thess 2:13,14
"But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.
14 It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Salvation, then, entails not only forgiveness of sin that gives us a ticket to heaven instead of hell, but power--the Spirit of the life of Christ Jesus in us--to be whole in every way.
The freedom referred to in the following verses applies not only to life after earth, but to life on earth through the power of Christ:
Rom 8:1,2
"Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death."
John 8:34-36
"Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.
35 "The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever.
36 "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed."
Humans were designed to function with God’s Spirit in them. Without Christ, man is dysfunctional within himself and in relationships, like a car without an engine, or a table with only two legs.
No wonder it’s called salvation--Jesus Christ not only saves us from hell, but is the cure, the only cure, to all dysfunction experienced by the human race.
Contentment, joy, inner peace, the manifestation of the supernatural love of Christ, and other aspects of wholeness through Christ, will be experienced only as the believer is abiding in Christ.
Although Christians have been given the Spirit of Christ to meet all our real needs, we still tend to seek life apart from Him. Like Adam and Eve, we pick from the tree of "independence and self sufficiency."
This is what the nation of Israel did in the Old Testament era; God had chosen them and filled them with His glory, but they wanted to be in control of their own lives instead of letting God take care of them. They exchanged the glory of God for "self":
Rom 1: 21-25
"For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing to be wise, they became fools,
23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever."
Ps 106:20
"Thus they exchanged their glory for the image of an ox that eats grass."
Jer 2:11,13
"Has a nation changed gods when they were not gods?
But My people have changed their glory For that which does not profit.
13 "For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water."
Just as God wanted to fill the nation of Israel with His glory, and for them to enjoy Him, He wants to fill Christians with His glory--the Spirit of Christ. And He wants us to enjoy His presence.
But we Christians are often deceived into loving the glitter of the world instead of the glory of God, and to seeking control over our circumstances instead of living by faith in Christ.
Thus the awesome paradox given in John 12:24,25:
If we don't let go of our life in this world, and allow Christ to become our identity, security, joy, and contentment, we will never bear fruit because Christ will be hindered from pouring His Life in and through us.
Jn 12:24,25
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
25 "He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal."
Trials and suffering, therefore, can indeed bring great blessings for the Christian. In love God may deny us the security, comfort, control, pleasure, power, and riches that we seek in this world, at least for a time, to turn our eyes from our circumstances to Christ, the real Bread of Life, who wants to fill us with His joy and love, and bless others through us:
John 15:5
"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."
"If you can't DO what you SAY, don't SAY what you'll DO!"
It's not that good things haven't happened because of common man-made religion but let's get real here; a lot more of the really bad things have happened simply because we must find a better way to do what God told us!
Sure, building a better mouse trap might catch more mice but if it really is a good trap it's just that, A TRAP WITHOUT AN EXIT!
The real issue about Man-made Religion is not that it seeks to serve God but that it fails in the attempt.
In fact Religion is the single most given reason WHY people hate God and the Bible.
This not an excuse to use at Judgment BUT it is a valid reason why most people are TURNED OFF of God and into Atheist's or Agnostic's.
This is why Jesus HATED RELIGION, not the people deceived but the dogmas and teachings that misrepresented his father to the world!
Salvation IS NOT A TRAP it really is as simple as it says it is, ....who would have thought? God really did mean what he said when he first said it...WOW!
So why is it that we must AT THE RISK OF LOSING OF OUR SOULS, add too it OUR STUPID IDEAS and take away from it GOD'S ORIGINAL INTENTS all at our whim as if it were a recipe we have the right to improvise with!
And we seem to do it without the slightest fear of future judgment?
That's the biggest mistake we make because "Judgment BEGINS with the house of God."
And remember there is a COMPREHENSIVE judgment to come for ALL TEACHERS OF GOD'S TRUTH WHO STRAY FROM THE PURPOSE OF GOD!
"There is ONLY one truth and the word of God is it!"
John 3:18
"Those who believe in him won't be condemned. But those who don't believe are already condemned because they don't believe in God's only Son."
This is one of the simplest verses in scripture and one of the most commonly perverted verses by dead religion.
How you might ask?
Religion cannot stand to let its people have personal freedom, meaning:
A state of exemption from the power or control of another; liberty; exemption from slavery, servitude or confinement. Freedom is personal, civil, political, and religious.
because along with personal freedom comes the freedom to think for one's self, and where would religion be if no one followed the priesthood in charge?
Would it really be too much to ask for the ones we trust with our salvation to be honest with scripture for once?
Why is that we cannot just read the bible for our selves WITHOUT the interference of religion and it's leaders?
"In the end this is what God wants to know, NOT what your Organization believes!"
Jer 10:3
"The religion of the people is worthless. Woodcutters cut down trees
(To fashion gods) from the forest ( The true God's creation). The hands of craftsmen prepare them with axes."
This whole chapter makes it clear that vein religion must sustain itself by building it own "gods" using the true God's creation to justify it.
WHY?
Because false religion has NO CREATIVE ABILITY of its own since it is DEAD, it must barrow material from true faith (Life) to be in the least bit believable.
How else could religion deceive so many unless it looked like, smelled like, and walked like real religion that God approves of!
It is man's inability to dig into facts to find real truth that Satan counts on to bolster his deceptions.
Jas 1:26
"If a person thinks that he is religious but can't control his tongue, he is fooling himself. That person's religion is worthless."
Why is the "tongue" such an important object to have control of in the spiritual life?
"God will not Balance your doctrine for you that's your Job, it's the INTENT of heart he'll reveal in the end!"
This is the key to understanding the false from the true.
False prophets are judged by their words coming to pass 100% of the time or else they are not of God.
Like a broken clock that's right twice a day a false prophet can be right just by guessing right some of the time.
Satanic entities know a lot but do not know what an all-seeing God knows!
Christianity must be judged by its WORDS coming to pass, not just speaking of salvation with empty words on paper but producing changed lives that are reproducing themselves with every step forward.
The Kingdom of God is alive with life-giving power not a pool of stagnant water.
Jas 1:27
"Pure, unstained religion, according to God our Father, is to take care of orphans and widows when they suffer and to remain uncorrupted by this world."
Here, James states that for anyone to claim they are "Religious" and that means there IS NO WAY AROUND this, it's a Law of God.
A true Christian is DOING WHAT THE BIBLE REALLY SAYS TO DO and they must remain UNCORRUPTED BY ANYTHING WORLDLY...PERIOD!
"Religion without God is totally worthless in God's sight. The Bible is the ONLY rule to follow, and anything less or more is false!"
No one can get away with being HALF in and half out of the Kingdom,and still call themselves His child.
There are no spiritual accessories for the true believer only living and walking in the essence of Jesus on earth.
No matter how many "Crosses", and "Bumper Sticker" theologies' we espouse it is useless unless it comes from a heart that has been "Recreated in His image".
Atheists love to parade around with so-called EX-believers in tow saying if there's a God why this or why that.
I would ask IF THERE'S NO GOD HOW CAN THERE BE AN EX-CHRISTIAN as a true Christian cannot exist by definition if there is no God?
There are FALSE BELIEVERS IN ALL FAITHS INCLUDING ATHEISM so you cannot use them as evidence of NO GOD!
John 3:19-21
" And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness more than the Light, for their works were evil.
For everyone practicing wickedness hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, that his works may not be exposed.
But the one doing the truth comes to the Light, that his works may be revealed, that they exist, having been worked in God."
Is this scripture not clear enough to us to understand why God cannot accept just any "Work" of man as good enough?
It is not the work itself that God sees, it is rather the inward intent of the work from your heart.
God judges our works in the most fair and just way possible, not as we do by "fleshly sight" alone. It would be completely unfair of God to judge anyone by their own works to get salvation as man is incapable of ANY work worthy of heaven's attention.
"Religion is no more valid than Atheism if God is not obeyed 100% and his word followed AS WRITTEN!"
1 John 1:5
says plainly
"And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all."
And in
2 Corinthians 6:14
".... for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? "
The answer is NONE....all works are to be filtered through God's PERFECTION and that being the case NO work not done through the Spirit's leading will meet his perfection!
Job 9:20
"If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse."
2 Chronicles 6:36
"If they sin against thee, (for there is no man who sinned not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near;...."
Those who claim to be Christian CANNOT ever do one thing against the word of God in the eyes of the world or the world will reject the Gospel outright but the world has no such belief attached to its many hypocritical lives.....why is that?
Because we are held to the standard God has placed in his word, even the ungodly know it in their hearts.
Don't be deceived Christian, your life will be combed over with GREAT detail, you may have forgotten but God knows full well!
God is RECORDING every word and action in your life as he is with the sinner, but your standards are to higher for you are Children of the most high God!
"In the end this is what God wants to know, NOT what your Organization believes!"
Jer 10:3
"The religion of the people is worthless. Woodcutters cut down trees
(To fashion gods) from the forest ( The true God's creation). The hands of craftsmen prepare them with axes."
This whole chapter makes it clear that vein religion must sustain itself by building it own "gods" using the true God's creation to justify it.
WHY?
Because false religion has NO CREATIVE ABILITY of its own since it is DEAD, it must barrow material from true faith (Life) to be in the least bit believable.
How else could religion deceive so many unless it looked like, smelled like, and walked like real religion that God approves of!
It is man's inability to dig into facts to find real truth that Satan counts on to bolster his deceptions.
Jas 1:26
"If a person thinks that he is religious but can't control his tongue, he is fooling himself. That person's religion is worthless."
Why is the "tongue" such an important object to have control of in the spiritual life?
"God will not Balance your doctrine for you that's your Job, it's the INTENT of heart he'll reveal in the end!"This is the key to understanding the false from the true.
False prophets are judged by their words coming to pass 100% of the time or else they are not of God.
Like a broken clock that's right twice a day a false prophet can be right just by guessing right some of the time.
Satanic entities know a lot but do not know what an all-seeing God knows!
Christianity must be judged by its WORDS coming to pass, not just speaking of salvation with empty words on paper but producing changed lives that are reproducing themselves with every step forward.
The Kingdom of God is alive with life-giving power not a pool of stagnant water.
Jas 1:27
"Pure, unstained religion, according to God our Father, is to take care of orphans and widows when they suffer and to remain uncorrupted by this world."
Here, James states that for anyone to claim they are "Religious" and that means there IS NO WAY AROUND this, it's a Law of God.
A true Christian is DOING WHAT THE BIBLE REALLY SAYS TO DO and they must remain UNCORRUPTED BY ANYTHING WORLDLY...PERIOD!
"Religion without God is totally worthless in God's sight. The Bible is the ONLY rule to follow, and anything less or more is false!"
No one can get away with being HALF in and half out of the Kingdom,and still call themselves His child.
There are no spiritual accessories for the true believer only living and walking in the essence of Jesus on earth.
No matter how many "Crosses", and "Bumper Sticker" theologies' we espouse it is useless unless it comes from a heart that has been "Recreated in His image".
Atheists love to parade around with so-called EX-believers in tow saying if there's a God why this or why that.
I would ask IF THERE'S NO GOD HOW CAN THERE BE AN EX-CHRISTIAN as a true Christian cannot exist by definition if there is no God?
There are FALSE BELIEVERS IN ALL FAITHS INCLUDING ATHEISM so you cannot use them as evidence of NO GOD!
John 3:19-21
" And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness more than the Light, for their works were evil.
For everyone practicing wickedness hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, that his works may not be exposed.
But the one doing the truth comes to the Light, that his works may be revealed, that they exist, having been worked in God."
Is this scripture not clear enough to us to understand why God cannot accept just any "Work" of man as good enough?
It is not the work itself that God sees, it is rather the inward intent of the work from your heart.
God judges our works in the most fair and just way possible, not as we do by "fleshly sight" alone. It would be completely unfair of God to judge anyone by their own works to get salvation as man is incapable of ANY work worthy of heaven's attention.
"Religion is no more valid than Atheism if God is not obeyed 100% and his word followed AS WRITTEN!"
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Those who have been redeemed from the Occult, Witchcraft, or any form good or bad of such and know what you believe, please support those who are still in the dark concerning who God is!
Whatever you do here please Testify to it now so everyone can be supported by your obedience to God!