Accepted in the Beloved

This truth of who we are in Christ as members of His body is one that gives me the deepest peace, a peace that passeth all understanding and is possible only by resting solely in His glorious grace! I praise Him that I am eternally gripped in His love, accepted in the Beloved, Christ Jesus, God’s precious Son and my Saviour. Do you have this peace? Are you accepted in Christ, the Beloved because you have believed the gospel of your Salvation; how that Christ died for your sins, was buried and rose again the third day?

We are all sinners by nature and that sin separates us from God who is holy, just and perfect. Our sin breaks God’s laws and His heart as it means we must die because that’s the wages of sin and that in dying we would be sent to hell for all eternity. But He doesn’t want it that way, He created man to be in fellowship with Him, to bring Him glory. But the first man Adam, well he jacked that all up pretty quick and brought sin upon man, sin that we inherited through him. But God in His wisdom knew what Adam would do and the problem man would have because of it before He ever even made the world and He made a plan then to fix it. He decided before the world began that He would send His Beloved Son to dwell among us on Earth – God with meat on Him- and eventually go to the cross and die for the sins of the world. God took your sins (and mine) and laid them on Christ, who died for them to pay your debt to God. He paid the debt He didn’t owe because He knew you could never do it. He was the only One who could, and in His precious grace, and glorious love He did so. He paid for all sins that day at Calvary – past, present and future – with His blood, you just need to believe that and when you do then He saves you, it’s a gift, completely free. You just have to accept it, believe Christ Jesus is who said, did what He did. Trusting in His blood alone is the ONLY thing that can will and does save you. That’s believing Christ and the gospel of God’s grace.

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 KJV — For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that 👉Christ died for our sins 👈according to the scriptures; And that 👉he was buried, 👈and that 👉he rose again the third day👈 according to the scriptures:

Ephesians 1:13 KJV — 👉In whom ye also trusted👈, after that ye heard the word of truth, 👉the gospel of your salvation👈: in whom also 👉after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise👈

Ephesians 2:8 KJV — For 👉by grace are ye saved through faith;👈 and that not of yourselves: it is 👉the gift of God:👈

If you have believed that only gospel that saves you today then you are saved, sealed by the Holy Spirit into Christ and yes, you too are accepted in the Beloved.

Lost Believers

Heartbreakingly it is all to true. Far to many who genuinely believe who Christ is fail to recognize and truly know what exactly He did for them that day on Calvary. They believe that Christ died and rose again but they miss the mystery God had hidden in himself since before the world began, the mystery of the gospel. They miss that it’s God’s grace that His Son’s death would pay for our sins completely totally eternally outside of the nation of Israel!

They miss that there is nothing they can do to save themselves – no work, no repentance, no water baptism, no sacraments, no prayer, no good deed, no law keeping, nothing – in fact believing, trusting, doing or requiring any of these acts condemns a believer today because they are trusting their faith to keep a work not Christ’s faith that He already did it all. It is finished paid in full and you just have to believe He did it all. You can not to one single thing to satisfy God because His perfect Son already did it. Instead of believing the gospel of the good news that he died to pay for all your sins past present and future before you even committed them by His faith in God the Father knowing He would raise Him up again, buried to forever remove them never again to be brought up before God, and raised the third day as He knew His Father would for our justification before God. They fail to believe they are already made complete and whole, already always forever saved in Christ instead vainly attempting to contribute or earn in some way salvation. They believe they can loose their salvation if they fail to repent often, confess their sins, do the acts, believe they replaced Israel, look for a kingdom on Earth. So they are like children throwing away eternal peace, joy and completeness in Christ for eternal damnation because they believe not in the gospel of God’s glorious grace given through the revelation of the mystery as committed to Paul in what he referred to as “my gospel, the gospel of the uncircumcision, whose hope is in heavenly places, choosing instead the kingdom gospel of Jesus on Earth as well as John the Baptist and the twelve, the gospel of the circumcision. But that isn’t God’s plan for saving us today. And if that’s the gospel you believed then I am afraid of you lest you are a list believer.

Paul Taught Us All…

Yep, he did. Today God is forming the Body of Christ, a new creature, and we are his ambassadors here on Earth. The moment we believe in Christ’s death to pay for all our sins ever (all means all past, present and future – after all they were all future when He died to pay for them), his burial to remove them forever,and his Resurrection three days later for our justification before God and giving us eternal life in Him then we are sealed into Him and His death, burial and resurrection. It is a gift we don’t deserve freely given that we could never earn, it is God’s glorious grace! So as members of His body we represent Him here, we are His ambassadors and as such we have a responsibility to learn what is expected of us today and then get busy doing it. The first member of the Body was Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles. The only place in the Bible where you will find the gospel of God’s grace that is the only one that will save us today is in the books Christ instructed Paul to write for us : Romans through Philemon. That is where all of the doctrine and directions Christ expects us to know and follow are found. He gave them first to Paul who then gave them to us. Wanna be a good ambassador today, Paul taught us all!

Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth

That’s how God tells us to study our Bible. That sounded weird to me when I first noticed it in 2 Timothy 2:15 but once I got over the way I had been told to read my Bible which had me in the jacked up confused mess I was back a few years ago it all began to make sense. You ever worked a puzzle with a bunch of pieces, like one of those 1,000 pieces (but not the ones of chocolate I know that sucker is gonna be used to torment people in the lake of fire it’s absolutely cray-cray all brown you can’t sort it at all) but a normal big puzzle you sort by color, that’s kinda what that verse did for me. It showed me how to sort out my Bible God’s way not man’s. Instead of thinking it was all to, for and about me as a member of the body of Christ from “In the beginning God” in Genesis 1:1 to “Amen” in Revelation 22:21, now I see the distinctions and the differences that made all the confusing parts confusing when I tried to mash em up and together. They didn’t go together so it kinda ended up looking like your play dough as a kid when you used the play dough factory, all the colors sorta mixed together to make this putrid brown color but not mixed too cause you could still see all the colors sorta, that’s what Christendom teaches as how to study your Bible and it’s wrong. See for yourselves that God says to rightly divide the word of truth (and no He didn’t say handle if you’re reading something other than the KJB, it’s divide – those two words have very different meanings and it completely changes the verse to use handle.)

Why would we need to divide the Truth you ask, because God says too first of all. Secondly because there’s divisions in Scripture that if ignored today then you frustrate grace and are unfruitful members of Christ’s Body at best and at worst you’re lost as a golf ball in high weeds and don’t even realize it because you’re trusting in something other than the faith and shed blood of Christ alone to save you! I know that’s a bold statement but it is said with much love and concern for you all and besides it’s what God says.

Okay so let’s look at how we rightly divide: it comes from two passages in Paul’s epistles.

“Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:”  (Ephesians 2:11-12)

Notice the bold phrase “time past” and how it says Gentiles were without Christ being strangers of the covenants and promises of Israel; having no hope cause they were without God. That’s important.

“But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.”  (Ephesians 2:13)

“But now ” we Gentile’s are made nigh to God by Christ’s blood. That is on glorious distinction and change people!

“That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”  (Ephesians 2:7)

And there’s another division called ages to come. These three make up the basic timeline of the history of man and the different parts of the Bible fit in them as the chart below shows. I plan on teaching this much more in-depth in the coming weeks on Friday’s but in a nutshell it boils down to this:

In times past God chose one nation of people to be His special people and separated them from the rest of the nations by the law, promises, covenants and a physical sign – circumcision, all of which Paul referred to as the middle wall of partition. From Abraham until Moses this wall was being erected and the giving of the Law was the final stones – Israel was a nation separated from the nations through the Old Testament (yes they were dispersed among them periodically but they remained separated by the law and circumcision) and through the Gospel accounts of Jesus earthly ministry into the mid Acts stoning of Stephen when they fell and were put in a time out of sorts, a long one. See, in time past salvation was to come through Israel to the world in the form of the kingdom of heaven but now since Israel rejected Christ and the kingdom God stooped dealing with Israel and instead brought salvation to the world without them by making them just part of the nations again and bringing grace to the world through faith alone in the shed blood of Christ. That’s the only way to be saved today is by God’s grace through faith, trying to follow anything from Israel’s program won’t work, because it required works to show faith and to continue to do works to obtain eventual salvation. That’s not what God wants us to do today though, today we just have to belief the Gospel of Christ’s death burial and resurrection and we are made a member of the body of Christ. That’s it. Course the time out for Israel will end on day, possibly very soon as it has been almost 2,000 years now, and that’ll happen after we, the Body of Christ are caught up with him to heaven and the prophetic program of Israel will pick back up. The pause will be over, the wall will go back up and the kingdom of heaven headed by Christ will come on earth after the completion of Daniel’s 70th week, the Lord’s day which ushers in the millennium (the kingdom) the ages to come. Study this chart and be ready to dig in next Friday.

Eternally gripped in His glorious grace,

Miranda

Are You Sure

I want you to think for a moment about a pretty serious question:

Do you know where you will spend eternity when you die?

If you do how do you know?

These aren’t trick questions mind you, but questions I am going to start asking people when I meet them. Obviously I will tweak things based on the situation and individual but I want to really step up my efforts to reach the lost in this world. And I am not just a gonna assume a person is saved and miss an opportunity.

I will ask. If they are (I’ll be able to see that by the answer to the second question) praise God I just met a brother or sister in Christ if not I will ask if they want to know how they can know and be sure or deal with a false trust in works. Then I will take them through the Scriptures showing their problem of needing a Savior because they have sinned against God, once they see the need I’ll give them the solution and just simply present the gospel from Scripture; that Christ died for their sins was buried to eternally remove them all and rose the third day for their justification before God, giving us eternal life in Him. I’ll explain in depth using a Bible if time and setting allow, or make it short and to the point using a tract and memorized verses if not.

Either way after giving them the good news I will ask if they understand and want to accept the gift of eternal life through Christ by believing what He did for them, that that’s all they have to do. All they can do, for any works they try to add such as a confession, water Baptism, praying that prayer, repentance, etc. will just condemn them, the only way to be saved is trusting in the shed blood of Christ to save us. It’s His faith through the Cross and if we add to it then we are rejecting that truth, rejecting Him.

If they believe that hallelujah praise God another soul is saved, if not then I tried. Either way I will give them some Bible pamphlet or tracts depending on how it went with a way to contact me for Bible Study, questions or information. I want to see the lost saved the best way to do that is take it on like Paul and always be about sharing the good news.

So I ask you my friends,

Do you know where you will spend eternity when you die? If so how do you know? If not do you want to know how you can be sure?

I am just a comment or email away if you want to talk.

ar3volut1on@outlook.com

The Gap

I shared the brief video on this a couple nights ago and said get ready as I was gonna get into the meat of this somewhat misunderstood and misrepresented gap that explains precisely why God is forming the Body of Christ and sheds much light on who Satan is and what his agenda is. Before I start though let me be 100% clear on something, I mean crystal okay.

I am not an evolutionist, never have been (even before I got saved that seemed like a ginormous pill to swallow and I didn’t buy it), and I never will be. I am a complete creationist – I believe in the beginning God and I believe our earth of today was created in six literal 24 hour days. I am not “trying to accommodate the evolutionary ages” as Henry Morris and other opponents of the gap like to falsely claim of all who see the gap. The gap theory as they call it was not developed in the 1800’s to give the great ages evolution demands.

Macro evolution, which is what they are referring to by the term evolution, is impossible no matter how much time is allowed. Nothing didn’t explode into rocks that got rained on and made soup which somehow came alive and eventually became the complex creatures God created.

“First I was tadpole long and thin, then I was a frog for with my tail tucked in, then I was a monkey swinging from a tree, now I’m a doctor with a PhD.”

Is never gonna be anything more than a ridiculous fairytale no matter how much scientists so called repeat it. So let’s look at a brief rundown of the history of the gap so you won’t be led astray by the lies of those who don’t understand God’s Word rightly divided and rely on modern perversions and scholars so called to oppose it (I am talking about the creationists like Morris and the evolutionists here!)

The going story is that a preacher from the 1800’s, Chalmers (1780-1847), invented the gap as a compromise that accommodated Darwin’s theory of evolution. I’m gonna call bunko on that. Darwin wrote his theory in 1859, twelve years AFTER Chalmer’s died. The gap couldn’t possibly have been invented to support Darwin’s theory. Besides that rather too obvious to ignore truth there’s the fact that Chalmer’s was NOT an evolutionist, wasn’t the first to teach the gap (in fact he credits it to Episcoupis who lived from 1583-1643), and believed in the six 24 hour days of Genesis 1. Well just read what Chalmers says about gap creationism and Genesis 1:1

“My own opinion, as published in 1814, is that it forms no part of the first day but refers to a period of indefinite antiquity when God created the worlds out of nothing. The commencement of the first day’s work I hold to be the moving of God’s Spirit upon the face of the waters.”

Pember (1837-1910), a Plymouth Brethern preacher taught the gap in his book “Earth’s Earliest Ages”; as did Bullinger, Scofield, Larkin and pretty much every dispensational author taught the gap.

I say all this not to say I agree with these men or that it is their belief in the gap that influences my belief in it, as I do not base my views on any issue on the opinions and ideas of men but solely on God’s Word. I first came to see the gap through my studies of God’s Word alone, I mention them only to show that people do see it.

Scripture doesn’t say precisely how old the earth is and creationists who dogmatically insist it is 6,000 years old make a mistake as they reject outright several verses of the Bible that show the gap. God didn’t say when He originally created the earth in Genesis 1:1 and thus we can’t know the time elapsed between 1:1 and 1:2 when it’s reconstruction began. Nor is the time really the important issue. The real issue is why was it reconstructed?

Now let me just make one observation here. I know we like to think we are the end all and be all of everything but seriously what do you think God was doing before he made man about 6,000 years ago? Just sitting up there somewhere twiddling His thumbs and thinking “Hmmm, maybe we should do something.” Trust me our infinite and eternal God was not just doing nothing for eternity past, ok.

Opponents of the gap try to claim there is no Biblical support for it, no Scriptural reason to believe there is a gap. They try to say we are following man and not the Bible but that couldn’t be farther from the truth as I am about to show with just 10 of the numerous verses that point to the gap like flashing neon arrows.

1. Paul referred to Genesis 1:2-4 as a type of salvation in the verses below:

“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”  (2 Corinthians 4:6)

Man was created, then ruined by sin, but when we believe on Christ we are regenerated.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”  (Ephesians 2:10)

God used His Spirit and His Word to bring us out of darkness into light!

“To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.”  (Acts 26:18)

The gap gives us a depiction of a fallen ruined creation succeeding it’s ruined past and being reborn a new creature.

2. There has been rebellion against God in both heaven before the world began and earth since it began. This is evident by God’s two-fold purpose to restore all things both heavenly and earthly back to His government.

“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:”  (Colossians 1:16)

God’s purpose to establish His kingdom on earth has to do do with Israel and has been fore told by His prophets since the world began.

“Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”  (Acts 3:21)

The mystery of the Body of Christ has to with the heavens however and was a secret hidden in God until revealed by the risen glorified Christ to Paul.

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,”  (2 Timothy 1:9)

The Body of Christ is God’s response to the rebellion among the heavenly host in eternity past. It is His answer to the challenge of Lucifer at his fall before the world began. We know that Angles existed when God laid the foundations of the earth and set the boundaries of the seas as we learn in Job 38:1-11 (for the sake of space I’ll let you read that on your own). If God had created the angels during the first six days of which we are given so much detail why are they left out of the record? Because they were made before day one even began in Genesis 1:3, they were created in Genesis 1:1 in eternity past and that is why they rejoiced at the words “Let there be Light”! Adam was placed in the very area where God’s city and throne once stood on the original earth. That made Lucifer pretty mad and he set about his diabolical plan to usurp the dominion God gave Adam.

3. Every verses in Genesis 1 after 1:1 begins with “And” thus always moving the narrative forward, never referring to the previous verse. Verse 2 is not a description of verse 1 which ends with a period but is the next step. The descriptive language of 1:2 matches other verses that clearly speak of judgement.

“I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.”  (Jeremiah 4:23)

How in this only other time the phrase “without form, and void” is used in Scripture did it get in this ruined condition? In Jeremiah 4:26 we see the answer.

“I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger.”  (Jeremiah 4:26)

It is clear that Jeremiah is talking about a yet future judgement when we read the full passage, but by comparing Scripture with Scripture as taught in 1 Corinthians 2:13 we can see that the earth becomes “without form and void” as the result of God’s judgement. Further emphasizing this are the words “deep” and “darkness”which are often associated with judgement in the Bible. Study it out and you’ll see.

4. God just outright said He didn’t create the earth in vain.

“For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.”  (Isaiah 45:18)

God doesn’t create in stages; it doesn’t say he created the beasts and they were without form and void. To suggest He spoke the earth that way insults and doubts His

“…his work is perfect:…”  (Deuteronomy 32:4)

5. Opponents say that by believing there is a gap we are reading something into the passage that is not there. Come on, you guys know me well enough by now to know that is not true. I am a literalist through and through, I don’t spiritualize, allegorize or add to Scripture at all. I read the words and let them say what they say in the plain, normal reading of it. Besides there are other gaps in the Bible and they don’t mind those gaps. Take this passage in Daniel:

“And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”  (Daniel 9:26-27)

Big ole gapping gap there if we cross reference it – Jesus died almost 2,000 years ago but that semicolon has been going on pretty long now. There are gaps and just because God doesn’t spell out plainly why judgement occurred in Genesis 1 in no way implies it didn’t occur. We must always compare scripture with scripture in order to gain a full spiritual understanding of God’s plan and purpose. That’s why we are told to do so in verses such as:

“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.”  (2 Peter 1:20)

6. “Created” does not mean the same thing as “made”. Created means to bring into existence out of nothing while made means to use pre-existing materials to form something. “Created” is only used twice in the six days while “made” is used often even in the same passage as “created” thus further emphasizing the difference in meaning as they are used about different aspects of the same subject. God created mans soul when He created Him in His image but he made man’s body from the dust of the ground. He created the sea life also but the plant life was “brought forth” out of the earth from what was already there.

7. “Replenish the earth” was the command given to Adam in the garden as well as to Noah after the Flood in Genesis 9:1. Adam was a son of God just as the Angels arenas it was sons of God, Angels, on the earth before Adam, the original earth that is. Corrupt translations of the Bible use the word “fill” rather than “replenish” in Genesis 1:28.

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”  (Genesis 1:28)

But there is a big difference between the word “fill” which is what God used in reference to the sea life (side note: there wasn’t any sea on the original earth in eternity past just as Revelation 21:1 tells us there won’t be one on the new earth in eternity future; and the word “replenish” which means it was already filled once and is being refilled again.

8. The Reginald earth’s destruction by water is referenced in this passage:

“And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:”  (2 Peter 3:4-6)

Opponents of the gap try to say that it’s talking about the Flood of Noah’s day but that doesn’t make sense. The world didn’t”perish” in Noah’s flood, granted a lot of people and animals did but eight people and a whole bunch of animals didn’t perish, and for that matter the earth was just covered in water it didn’t have to be completely reformed! In verse 6 of this passage Peter is speaking of “the beginning of creation” as the context shows by reading verse 4. The past judgement Peter is speaking of corresponds to the future judgement when God will once again destroy the heavens and earth so that he can make a new heaven and earth as verses 8-13 show (you can read those yourselves for space sake, this is getting very long.). It bears noting that the heavens were not destroyed in Noah’s flood either.

9. The connection between history and prophecy points to the gap.

“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.”  (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

There is a correspondence between how the Bible opens and closes in Genesis 1:1 and Revelation 21:1.

We know there is a future rebellion of Satan that will culminate in the destruction of this earth and a new one coming down from heaven as we see in Revelation 20:7-21:1. And so it was in eternity past when Lucifer fell. Earth is the center of the universe (not our solar system) and God will put His city and throne back in it’s rightful place on day in the future, where it once was in eternity past. Thus eternity future corresponds perfectly with eternity past.

10. Gap opponents say that there was no sin or death before Adam sinned but think about that story for a minute. Satan and Eve both sinned before Adam did, (don’t believe me read this post. ). They use this as a proof text:

Without considering that this verse is only talking about the world of mankind. Uhm, Satan’s master plan. Some even say that pointing out the obvious and seeing the gap that is clearly there undermines the gospel! The claim is that if Lucifer fell before Genesis 2:3 then God could not have said that everything He made was good in 1:31. Not true. The first thing God says is good is Light in verse 4, but Lucifer was made and fell between verses 1 and 2. God’s statement in verses 31 is limited to what He had just made in the previous six day from Genesis 1:3-30. He’s talking about this earth and it’s solar system; Satan’s habitation however was not on this earth but is in heaven as the following verses show:

“Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight.”  (Job 15:15)

“Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:”  (Ephesians 2:2)

“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”  (Revelation 12:7-9)

God did not call the second heaven, what we call space, good in 1:8!

“And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.”  (Genesis 1:8)

I know this was a very long post on the gap but I think it is very clear that the Bible tells us there is a gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2. But don’t take my word for it study it out. Search the Scriptures and see, that’s what I do and it never disappoints me but instead I grow in my walk with God daily as I read and hear what He is teaching me through His Word. In a day or so I will cover the Scriptural narrative of Lucifer’s fall but I think this was plenty for one day. As alway my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ may you rest secure eternally gripped in His glorious grace.

Glorious Grace

I have a request of all that read this message, I want you to read the following list of verses and ponder in your heart the glorious riches of the grace of God and how very deeply He loves you! So much that while you were yet a sinner Christ died for you a brutal horrific death that was meant for you, your sins nailed him there. Then he was buried to take your sins away, He descended to the very depths of hell and left them all their – your past, present and future sins (after all they were all future when He died) before crossing the divide across which the rich man had gazed longingly as he suffered eternal torment and agony in that very hell to Abraham’s bosom, paradise and emptied it of the saints waiting patiently for their Lord to one day come. Then the third day He rose from the grave victoriously justifying all who believe in Him for all eternity before God thus our salvation is solely by His glorious grace a free gift we don’t deserve and we can never do anything to earn but God gives us from the rich depths of His love.

Gift Of God’s Grace

That’s what God is wanting to give you. Why would God want to do that you ask? Because He loves you and wants to save you. But I don’t need saving I’m doing just fine you say? No I don’t think so, you’re a hot mess of sin and brokenness just like I was. You keep trying to fix what you’ve broken, correct the mistakes and somehow make life look like what you thought it would but all you get is deeper in the dark hole of failure, am I right? That’s because you, like I was, are trying to save yourself and that’s something you can never do cause Jesus already did it. Let me explain.

We are all born sinners because way back in the beginning when God created the first man Adam well Adam jacked it up and didn’t obey God. He brought sin on himself and everyone who came after him. That’s why the book of Romans in the Bible tells us:

Yea, you read that right, sin brought death into the world as the just rewards of that sin:

Every single person who has ever lived has been affected by sin, Scripture tells us:

Because we are all sinners by birth then we have a big problem cause God hates sin. See God is the Creator of this universe and that means His creation answers to Him in the end, we’re part of that creation because we are descendants of Adam. God is perfect Holy and just – He can’t sin and won’t tolerate it in His presence which means you and I have a gigantic problem cause we’re sinners from the get go. That grieved God’s heart cause He loves us and the sin in our lives forever separates us from Him. He had to find a way to save us from the results of our sin, separation from Him.

He did this in His Son, Jesus. See Jesus was a man but He was God too, He was God’s Son born through a virgin woman, that means he didn’t have the sin nature we inherit from our earthly fathers. He was a perfect man, never sinned, which is important cause in order to pay the debt for someone else’s sin the the payer has to be sin free. That rules out any other mere human right off the bat, but Jesus was more than just human, he was all God and all man. That means He qualified to pay the debt we owe to God. And He did on the cross at Calvary when He was crucified.

His death burial and resurrection made the way for every single person who believes in Him and what He did to be covered by it, to be saved. Saved and restored to right standing with God. Our sins past, present and future were covered (forgiven) by His death; removed forever by His burial; and we are justified before God by His resurrection! God loves us so much He did that, for you, for me, for every human who ever lived. Now understand you could never have done it because you have sin in your life, just accept it that on your own you’re lost as a ball in high weeds, broke as a joke, and it ain’t never gonna change by any effort of yours. But belief in Jesus the incarnate Son of God’s death burial and resurrection can do that. Belief, that’s all you can do to be saved, have faith that the faith of Christ to save you is enough, It’s a free gift, you just got to accept it. So what are you waiting for?

What the Lost Say: 6.) When I Choose To Believe Then I’m Saved Forever?

Yes! Absolutely! As soon as you believe the truth of the gospel of the grace of God, God keeps His Word and gives you the gift of eternal life.

Immediately, in that very instant, you are washed of your sins, sanctified (set apart as holy) unto God, and justified or declared righteous by God.

1 Corinthians 6:11  And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

In that moment you are born again, born into God’s family, regenerated, renewed by God’s Holy Spirit, made a new creature in Christ Jesus!

Titus 3:5  Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

We are given the Spirit of life the instant of belief. The Holy Spirit of God indwells every believer and we then possess eternal life by His permanent abiding presence in us; eternal life that is not just future but a present possession.

Romans 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

That means that the Holy Spirit indwells believers as soon as they believe, making them sons of God and sealing them until the day of redemption, that’s the catching away of the believers the day Christ comes to take His purchased possession home to glory! Bodily, physically, finally!

Ephesians 1:12-14  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.  [13]  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,  [14]  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Galatians 4:4-7  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,  [5]  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.  [6]  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.  [7]  Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

The Holy Spirit is also called “the Earnest” meaning a down payment. By the Holy Spirit’s indwelling we have been given a down payment of eternal life promised by God. This is said to be our sealing, the seal of God’s ownership until the day of redemption when he shall take us physically unto Himself forever in the resurrection.

2 Corinthians 1:20-22  For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.  [21]  Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;  [22]  Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

Once we believe we are saved eternally because this is what God has promised and He is always faithful to keep His Word. After all, God cannot lie, so we have the gift of eternal life, life without end, with Him forever! That’s what we get the very instant we believe!

2 Timothy 1:12  For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

2 Timothy 2:11-13  It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:  [12]  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:  [13]  If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

Brothers and sisters in Christ I have spent many days now looking at some of the questions that lost people ask us, questions it behooves us to be prepared to answer. I pray that you have gleaned a few nuggets to apply in your dealings with those who aren’t believers yet. Please share truth with those you encounter, the world is lost and dying on a swift slide straight to Hell! You needed look far to find a lost soul in desperate need of the good news of the gospel of the grace of God: family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, even the telemarketers, just share grace with all you meet .

As always my beloved brethren may you be eternally gripped in His glorious grace!

What the Lost Say: 5.) I Understand the Cross, Now What Do I Do?

Tonight we get to the good stuff, hope! We get to show them how simple salvation is really, Acts 16:30-31 sums it up pretty well:

“And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”  (Acts 16:30-31)

That’s pretty much it, since your a sinner, there’s not one single thing you can do to be saved; no work will do it. But glory be to God He made a way in His Son Jesus Christ! He has done it all, all the works necessary to provide complete salvation for you. Therefore all that’s left is for you to do is just receive the gift of eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

That gift is yours “by grace”; you didn’t earn it and you sure don’t deserve it, it is the unmerited favor of God; “through faith” in what God said Jesus has done for you. That’s died in your place by the way, it shoulda been you (and me) on that cross.

Ephesians 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

1 Timothy 4:10  For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

The salvation of Jesus Christ becomes yours when you by faith believe in Him, relying on or trusting in Christ’s blood alone, for your hope of eternal salvation and favor with God.

Romans 3:28  Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

1 Corinthians 1:21  For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

1 Corinthians 1:29-31  That no flesh should glory in his presence.  [30]  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:  [31]  That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

Galatians 3:6  Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

Galatians 3:8-9  And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.  [9]  So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

Galatians 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

Galatians 3:26  For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

Believing is not just all that you need to do to be saved… it is all you can do to be saved today. God requires us to trust in His Son alone for our salvation. If we try to work for salvation in anyway whatsoever then we reject the truth that Jesus Christ did it all, paid it all. That’s “unbelief.” Salvation is either by “works” meaning you somehow earn it through something you do or say and thus you deserve it or it is by “grace” completely unearned and undeserved but freely given. As you saw in the verses above God said in Ephesians:

Ephesians 2:8-9  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  [9]  Not of works, lest any man should boast.

If you try and work for your salvation then you reject God’s glorious grace and sadly remain unsaved.

Romans 10:1-4  Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.  [2]  For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.  [3]  For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.  [4]  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”  (Galatians 1:6-9)

“I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”  (Galatians 2:21)

“Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.”  (Galatians 5:4)

“For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:”  (Philippians 3:3-9)

Don’t reject God’s grace, accept it to be saved.

As always my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ may you be eternally gripped in His glorious grace.