|
Believer's Worldview - Curtis Smale
Archive for 200709 ( return to current blog )
Sunday September 23, 2007
Every time the Gospel is a repeated is another opportunity for a person to believe it and be saved. (The Bible says that faith comes by hearing the Word of God.)
This is why people hold up signs with "John 3:16" on them at nationally televised NFL games--the Gospel in a nutshell.
God doesn't want anyone to go to Hell, and I don't want anyone to go there, either.
God says that the way to get to Heaven (a real Place that believers will see after death), is to believe the Gospel of Christ, or, to say it another way, to believe in Jesus--to receive Him as Savior.
Salvation from Hell to Heaven is a FREE GIFT of God's Grace, received by simply believing the message.
This is the Gospel message: The God-man, Jesus, died on the cross for your sins, was buried, and rose again from the dead on the third day.
God raised Jesus (the Son of God), from the dead, and this showed that God was pleased with the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
God is paying the price of God's justice for man's sins, to God.
If God had not been satisfied with His sacrifice, God would not have raised Jesus from the dead.
God incarnated a human body and died for the sins of sinful man--in place of us, as a substitute. (even though he had no sins of His own to be punished for)
He paid the ransom of God's Justice to release us from our punishment.
Without God's forgiveness, based on Christ's substitutionary sacrifice, every human being will justly be thrown into Hell to be punished forever for the sins he has committed.
God is a God of justice and He will not "just forget about our sins"--either Jesus bears our punishment, or we will.
Jesus is the only Way out of our hopeless and sinful human condition..
God is the ultimate authority figure, but He is also Love. The Bible says "God is love."
God loves you personally.
God knows who you are, He created you. He knows everything you've ever thought, felt and done. He knows your name. He loves you and He forgives you for everything you've ever done, in Christ. He wants you to receive His love and be saved through believing in Jesus.
Every other religion on earth tries to get its followers justified and into Heaven, Nirvana, Valhalla, etc., though doing good works. (But no one is good enough--EVERYONE does sinful or evil deeds and falls short of the perfection required to get into Heaven.)
Some imagine multiple lifetimes to get things right--Hinduism, and Buddhism. The only problem is that these people still do many wrongs in every life--how will they ever reach "Nirvana"? (The Bible says that everyone will die once and then be immediately judged. This is why I always say, "one minute after you die, it will not be a matter of faith. You will see Jesus and you will be in Heaven or Hell. But God is pleased only with faith--faith in Jesus.)
The Gospel message, therefore, is the most important message a human can hear in his lifetime.
Jesus suffered excruciating and unfathomable emotional, spiritual and physical pain to pay for the sins of each one of us--every human being who has ever lived.
Salvation is mankind's foremost need. Hell while perfectly just, is also unimaginably painful and endless in duration--our problem is that we don't know how bad we are or how good and holy and terrifying God is.
Then Gospel message bears repeating, then, because of its extreme importance and it's power, when believed, to save and transform human bodies and souls. ("Bodies" because there will be a resurrection of all bodies to Heaven or to Hell.)
Believe in Jesus: that He is God, that He suffered and died on the cross for all of your sins: past, present and future; that He was buried, that He physically rose from death on the third day--and you will be immediately forgiven, saved forever, and go to Heaven the minute you die.
When a person believes in Jesus, the God-man who died on the cross for his sins, was buried, and rose from the dead on the third day, also known as believing the Gospel, that person becomes a permanent member of the family of God.
He becomes immediately and irrevocably and permanently ("everlastingly") saved.
In order for a person to be saved, God must enable the person to believe in Jesus.
The person who believes is immediately declared "not guilty" of his or her sins by God. (Justification.)
The person is immediately indwelled by the Holy Spirit, forever and unconditionally.
The person is immediately baptized by the Holy Spirit into the death and resurrection of Christ. (This is not water baptism. Water baptism plays no part in saving anyone.)
The saved person, because the Holy Spirit is in him, produces good works which he is able to do through the power of God. (Sanctification.)
If there are no visible good works, no change of life, the question to be asked is not "What kind of believing in the Gospel has taken place?", but rather, "Has the person believed at all?"
Saving faith is belief in the Gospel facts--that Jesus died for ME, personally.
Trusting in Jesus the God-man and what He did for me on the cross is how we are saved.
Jesus and Paul gave immediate assurances of everlasting salvation based on the professed belief of their hearers.
So should we.
If a person says he believes in Jesus, he should be given immediate assurance of eternal salvation. (If he is lying and really does not believe, that is his own affair.)
All who believe in Jesus are saved forever, by the grace of God.
| | | |
|
|
When a person believes in Jesus, the God-man who died on the cross for his sins, was buried, and rose from the dead on the third day, also known as believing the Gospel, that person becomes a permanent member of the family of God.
He becomes immediately and irrevocably and permanently ("everlastingly") saved.
In order for a person to be saved, God must enable the person to believe in Jesus.
The person who believes is immediately declared "not guilty" of his or her sins by God. (justification)
The person is immediately indwelled by the Holy Spirit, forever and unconditionally.
The person is immediately baptized by the Holy Spirit in that moment into the death and resurrection of Christ. (This is not water baptism. Water baptism plays no part in saving anyone.)
The saved person, because the Holy Spirit is in him, produces good works which he is able to do through the power of God. (sanctification)
If there are no visible good works, no change of life, the question to be asked is not "what kind of believing in the Gospel has taken place?", but rather, "has the person believed at all?"
Saving belief is an acknowledgement of the Gospel facts--that Jesus died for ME, personally.
Trusting in Jesus the God-man and what He did for me on the cross is what saves me.
Jesus and Paul gave immediate assurances of everlasting salvation based on the professed belief of their hearers.
So should we.
If a person says he believes in Jesus, he should be given immediate assurance of eternal salvation. (If he is lying and really does not believe, that is his own affair.)
All who believe in Jesus are saved forever, by the grace of God.
| | | |
|
|
Yes, it can.
Can "intellectual unbelief" damn you?
Yes, it can.
Someone who has trusted Jesus the God-man to forgive his sins through His death on the cross, burial, and resurrection is a saved man.
We are not saved by good works but by faith in Jesus.
Salvation is a free gift to the one who believes in Jesus.
In the phrase "intellectual saving faith," the word intellectual has NO MEANING.
Faith is not meritorious.
All who have believed in Jesus are saved and will go to Heaven no matter what.
Attempting to define what "kind" of faith in Jesus will save us is not permitted by Scripture.
Everyone who believes the Gospel to be the truth is saved, according to the Bible.
| | | |
|
|
Saturday September 15, 2007
*** Who Controls the Weather? Who Leads World Leaders? Who Commands Satan? Who Rules over the Great god Money? Who is in Charge of Life and Death? Who was here in the Past and Who will be here in the Future? Who Oversees all of the History of men? Who Created the Universe? Who Made Logic and Meaning? Who Decides what is Right and what is Wrong? Who Presides over Heaven and Hell? Who died to forgive sins? Who ALONE is Worthy of your WORSHIP and your Highest love? Who Is The KING of the Jungle?
Jesus.
| | | |
|
|
Jesus is coming back to Earth. He is either coming to take you to Heaven... or He is coming to throw you into Hell to be punished for your sins. Yes, fear Him. He created you, and only He can save you. He is Love. And He is Terror. His love is endless and His punishments are without end. He is The Punisher and He is The Redeemer. There is no other. He is not like the Wizard of Oz, all imaginary threats and no juice. There is more than a scared little old man behind the curtain of death--there is a Holy and Terrifying Presence from whom the earth and the sky flee. Kings and rulers writhe in crying fear and wet their pants before Him, so scared are they about what is coming upon them. And Who is before them--one minute after death. He is the Almighty Sovereign GOD. The One. The Only. Pure Terrifying Holiness. The Almighty Sovereign LORD. His Name is The Lord Jesus Christ. And, yes, He is coming back to this Earth--quickly!
| | | |
|
| Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
| |
Have you checked out the
new Blogstream site,
Question Stream.com?
Many Blogstream members are there
already! Quotes from members: "It's like blog lite!" -- "I like the instant
gratification!" -- "Stop spectating, get in the game!"
If you have not joined in, you are really missing out!
|
|
921 Visitors
|