“Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man (the “Angel of God”) with him (Jacob) until the breaking of the day.” And when he (Jacob) saw that he (Jacob) prevailed not against him (the Angel), he (the Angel) touched the hollow of his (Jacob) thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he (Jacob) wrestled with him (the Angel). (Genesis 32:24-25) (more…)
“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 1:10,11) “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
There is only one God(Deuteronomy 6:4), and that God is both eternal (and therefore unchanging ITimothy1:17) and of single purpose (and therefore with only one sense of ideology). What’s more, that same one God existed before any of us ever came to be(Genesis1:1).
Christian salvation centers around the concept of sin and redemption. First, let’s talk about redemption. To “redeem” means to compensate for the faults of bad aspects of. This compensation by inference means that sin is the fault, or bad aspect. This is exactly the concept.
Salvation. What is salvation? Salvation is much more than a notion, a good idea or a nice thing to do. Salvation is the concept of being pulled from a burning building. Salvation is the thought of drowning and at the very last moment a hand reaches into the water to pull you out. It is the warm blankets, the attentive care, and the emotions of thankfulness, gratitude, and even debt for the person who saved you.
“… one came and said unto him [Jesus], Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why do you call me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He said unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honor thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. The young man said unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? [(Mark 10:21 adds) Then Jesus beholding him loved him] Jesus said unto him, If you wilt be perfect, go and sell that you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.“ (Matthew 19: 16-22)
It is easy, almost second nature to fall into a false concept of salvation. Conversion, justification, regeneration and sanctification are not the result of belief, dedication, worship or devotion. It is human nature to believe one or more of these events, if you will, save us, sanctify us and preserve us.
An erroneous view of the death of Jesus is that it was out of sympathy for mankind that He died for our sins. This view comes from putting the New Testament on a doctrinal island, and out of the historical context of what we know about God. Jesus, as the Christ willingly “took our sin on Himself” (Hebrews 1: 3). This was not an act of sympathy for us, God purposely made him “to be sin for us, who knew no sin.” This is the unconditional love of God for mankind!
It is time go get serious about things that have become too common to the rank and file of those who call themselves Christians. Perfection awaits the persevering saint; it is the beacon toward which he is inexorably drawn. As the Apostle said , “I press forward to the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus.” “I have not achieved,” he said but it is my goal.
Anno Domini 2008, history will turn significantly but irrevocably on this year. This will probably not be the last year; but, it will be one of those momentous years wherein the sequence of human events will be altered drastically and dramatically from all those that have gone on before. Those who have been given authority by God to govern the nations will not understand. It will not be because they are incapable of understanding; but because they choose not to look to the God of Creation for the answer. They have had warnings but they did not recognize them. They did not; they cannot because they will not. They chose to listen and believe false teachers and false prophets. They have listened to the secular god of evolution who has lied to them.
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