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Thursday, July 18, 2013

The Devotional - 092 - Grace Gospel


A Thought for the Day – 092 – Grace gospel.

 

Proverbs 18:22 – He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the LORD. If you have been married for any length of time you know that your wife is not a THING. But you also know that you have obtained FAVOR from the LORD. So in every moment with her, remember she is a gift of GRACE or someTHING beautiful that you do not deserve.

 

Comments and challenges

Every day is a different, is it not? Today I am in a hurry the days agenda is packed with things to do. Well enough of that let me get to it. When I was a young boy; well that was so long ago that I do not remember the exact age but maybe around nine. My mom and I were walking to my school on a cold day, all bundled up and sort of bent over pushing our way against the wind. We stepped into the street, the car to our left was stopped at the stop sign, no problem but then as we moved to the middle of his vehicle, the man stepped on the gas.

Pushing against us the car was picking up speed, our screaming and yelling had no effect, the windows of the car were closed and the man was watching the traffic to his left approaching. As a last ditch effort I threw my school books at his windshield. The noise startled the man and he stepped on his brakes. The moment was a horror, but it was over and we were safe once again. My mom and I did not know the LORD Jesus Christ as our Savior at that time and my mom at 91 this past July 14th still does not know the saving grace of LORD Jesus.

How is it that some believe in Jesus to be saved and some do not? The answer is: Personal choice! There is much clerical controversy over this important life changing experience. None of us seem rightly qualified to accomplish a full understanding of the Gospel of the Grace of God which is available to every soul who is born into this world. As humans we can and do look at the saving grace of God from a human viewpoint and this is WRONG. From this viewpoint we develop doctrines that include obstacles; or better put “stumbling blocks”.

These obstacles come in the form of “works” to earn ones salvation, this would be seeking to gain God’s grace or favor by doing good in addition to believing the message of the gospel. On the other side of this problem are “limits” to salvation, such as; a limited number of believing people, chosen by God who will by His own authority atone for those He selects out of the world to be with Him in eternity. So these are the main two doctrines in Christianity today, and folks to be very blunt. BOTH OF THESE SYSTEMS OF THEOLOGY WILL LEAD THE PEOPLE WHO FOLLOW THESE BELIEFS STRAIGHT TO HELL.

People who are working fervently to be pleasing to God with good works and people who believe that they have been selected to spend eternity with God because they are of some conviction that God has a special interest in their person or religion are standing in the cold in front of the car, ready to be tossed into the grave without the true gospel, these folks are without Christ and without hope. Let me say that I can hear the AMEN from those you who are saved by grace.

So now if salvation is not from works and not from a limited atonement controlled by God what is it? First of all, this is not salvation by the words of Jesse, it is salvation by the words of the Living Word of God; any Holy Bible will reveal this saving grace of God to you. Let me say this quickly… if you are using Bibles that are rewritten by men who remove the Deity of Jesus Christ from the words of the original transcripts of the written word of God then you ARE in trouble. Bibles that are reworded to present Jesus as nothing more than a spirit or half-brother of Satan are garbage and need to be burned.

Now I am very adamant about this and before I run out of time and paper, let me show you why. It is sort of simple really, no doubt the religion of work and the religion of limited atonement controlling beliefs; if God who truly is the Father focused in these theologies, there would be little need for Jesus. But Jesus makes a few statements to help you and me, or to keep you and me from making these critical errors.  John 8:42-47; John 14:1-6 and from God the Father we hear these words when Jesus was ordained for ministry (baptized by John the baptizer) Matthew 3:13-17. If you have time read John 1:1-34.

 

Those are all familiar passages from the Holy Bible; there are many more, the most popular of all is another comment about the Son of God, which is spoken by the Son Himself. Speaking in reference to His mission to earth as God and man in the flesh, He says” For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. And of course that verse of scripture is John 3:16. Did you notice the words WHOEVER BELIEVES?

Let me take you to a statement of the apostle Paul speaking to the Galatians, Galatians 2:16 – “KNOWING that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by FAITH in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

So this is what I believe from scripture, scripture that has not been tarnished by the hands of unprincipled men but scripture authorized by God Himself. The simple but powerful verse of John 3:16 speaks boldly that there is no such thing as limited atonement and secondly Galatians 2:16 speaks just a boldly about any system of works to gain access to heaven. To put the finishing touches on this; this is what I believe and I will go to my grave or enter the rapture of the saints of God with this thought. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me” Galatians 2:20. When I came to know this, I was simply like the Philippian jailer (as he is referred to) notice Acts 16:25-34.

I once saw a billboard that said something like this: KNOW CHRIST AND KNOW LIFE; NO CHRIST AND NO LIFE. Well there is truth written there but the gospel of the Grace of God is greater than the words of MAN. Grace has appeared to ALL men to resist ungodliness and receive salvation, such as written once again by the apostle Paul in Titus 2:11-15 so my speech to you will always be seasoned with grace (saving grace) but I will always use salt by speaking with the authority found in the Living Word of God and truly I favor your relationship, fellowship and your friendship, so do not despise what I am saying… take the time and search it out, it is a subject that your soul longs to be comforted with.

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