Salvation Simply

John 3:1-19
 
In the darkness Nicodemus stands listening to the Lord Jesus.  This deeply religious man has been told by the Lord that to see God's kingdom he must be born again.  To enter God's kingdom Nicodemus for all his religion, must be the recipient of a spiritual birth brought about by God, the Holy Spirit. V5 "..verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Jesus taught this religious man that true religion is being born again.  Jesus teaches that the true religion is being born again.  Jesus teaches Nicodemus that God initiates this new birth, and Jesus teaches Nicodemus that to be born again is absolutely essential.  It is not an optional extra experience that some Christians have and others don't.  You must be born again or you cannot see God's kingdom. 

We must remember that Jesus is talking to this man who is a religious pharisee.  The pharisees liked to be in complete control of their religion.  That is why Jesus says in V8 that Nicodemus has as much control over being born again as he did over the wind. V8 "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."    You must be born again.  Jesus says that in V7 "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again."  did you know that this Greek verb means that it is an action completed in the past..it is a passive verb.  You don't do it.  To be born again is something that God does to you.  To be born again is of God.  John 1: 12-13 "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:  which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."    Born of God.  The new birth is of God.  Nicodemus is astounded and he says "how can these things be"

To be born again is hard to understand:    This religious man cannot understand the kingdom of God because he is not born again.  He doesn't have spiritual life.  The person who is not born again is a natural man (1 Corin 2:14) who receives not the things of the spirit of God, they are foolishness to him, neither can he understand them because they are spiritually discerned.   Jesus says in V10 "..Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?"   Master means teacher.  Of Israel means renowned in Israel.  Jesus tells Nicodemus that he is a renowned teacher among God's people and yet  he was ignorant in these matters.  

Nicodemus should have had a knowledge of what it says in Ezekiel 36:26 "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."   God is going to take way hearts of stone and give living hearts of flesh.  That is God in the old testament talking about the creation of spiritual life within people being born again.   Nicodemus was a spiritual leader who was unacquainted with the basics of spiritual life.  In V9-13 Jesus goes on to say that these things are real, they can be explained.  People being born again change from the inside out.  How these things originated in heaven in God's plan and purpose, Nicodemus doesn't understand.  Jesus said that he was in heaven and that he had planned it all.

A Strange Illness and a Little Miracle

Again its been almost one month since I last posted and it has been a very unusual month.

About 3 weeks ago I was very agitated but did not know why.  Then 2 weeks ago my body began to go into slow motion: I moved slowly, talked slowly and quietly.  My husband said that I was mumbling and that  it was like I had taken an overdose of tranquilizers even though I am not on tranquilizers.  My brother phoned and when I answered he asked me if I had just gotten up.  I had a very difficult time coming up with words I wanted to use, my brain was very foggy in its thoughts.  I lost desire to eat and forced myself to get something down.  One afternoon I sat in the backyard on a chair dozing most of the afternoon.  Then it became difficult to write or type, had to slowly write the letters, forming their shape like a child would do.  I used to be able to type along with sermons but now that would be impossible as my speed has slowed so much.  Other parts of my body were out of whack as well, something was clearly wrong with my bladder and kidneys.  I lost my balance and started banging into things.

This past week I began to improve, but went to our family physician with a written list of what had happened and after doing an exam he had an appointment made for me the next day at the local hospital for a CT scan on my head.  He also phoned an internist and an appointment was made for two days later.  Most people have to wait weeks or months for either of these, but he considered it important enough to mark it "urgent" so space was made for me.  He said my heart was racing so he ordered blood tests, an EKG and a cultured urinalysis.  I went next door to the clinic and had the EKG, had blood drawn, but I was shocked and a little scared to find blood in my urine.  When I returned to the doctor's office and handed him the results of the EKG, I mentioned that it was scary to find the blood but he said that some of my symptoms were scary.

Why Do Bad Things Happen to the World and to the Child of God?

This post is further to yesterday's post entitled "Downhearted but why, and then an answer.  Lately I have read quite a few posts at Wordpress asking the question If God is a God of love, why does he allow bad things to happen?  I believe that these notes from the sermon by Paul Dowling provide the answer, why bad things happen to those in the world, and to the child of God.

Why do Bad Things Happen?

Job 1:1-12 

At some time in their life everyone has wondered,  "why do bad things happen to good people?"  Why was the missionary Amy Carmichael, who was doing her best to obey God, who did so much good work for the Lord, why was she confined to her bed in agony for the last 20 years of her life?  Why do bad things happen to good people.   Why is there so much suffering?

Some people in this world take the question further and they say "if God is the God of love why all the human misery".  Why..  For anyone who would ask that question, it is quite easy to answer although most people who ask that question do not want to know the answer.   If God is a God of love, the word if,  that is a sign of doubt and unbelief.  There is no doubt about it, the bible says that God is love, there is no "if" about it.  If there is doubt, there is no belief in the first place.  We need to remember that God is not a God of love only, love is not his only attribute. There is more to God than 1 John 4.

If you know your bibles you do know that God did not create the world the way it is now. Genesis 1:31 "And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very good...."  The world is the way it is now with all its suffering and misery because of human free will.  In the garden of Eden, when there was free will that was not under bondage to sin,  Eve first, and then her husband Adam, used that free will to believe the serpent's lie and be disobedient to God's command and that is how sin entered into this world..  That caused the fall,  but God did not create the world the way it is now.  

Why are there starving people in the world?  Is it God's fault? No it's not, there are starving people in the world because of human greed.  There is more than enough food in this world to feed everybody but the problem is not in the amount of food.  Some countries are hoarding food and won't give it to those who are starving.  The problem is human greed.  It's not God's problem, it is human caused problem.

Why all the wars? That is easily answered because humans fight.  Why so much murder and killing? It's because of human aggression, this goes back to Cain murdering his brother Abel (Genesis 4:8 "And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.").   It's human's fault, not Gods.  Why do so many humans die from simply cured illnesses in the poorer countries of this world. Why do thousands of poor people die? It's because they can't have operations because there are no surgeons but we can have cosmetic surgery to improve our looks. That is how arrogant many people are in the western world, so don't blame God.

Why do triple heart by-pass patients have to wait such a long time for their operation which is life-threatening, but if you pay some money you can have the surgery in a matter of weeks? Because money talks louder than human need.  You can blame God but most of the human suffering in this world is caused by human greed.  So put the blame where it belongs.

If you don't believe in God how can you blame God?   A far more important and honest question is in the bible, in the book of Job.  That is, why do God's people sometimes suffer for no apparent reason.  

The Days of Noah Part 2: Noah the Person

This is the second in a 7 part series on Noah and the Flood from Genesis 6.

The Days of Noah:  Part 2, Noah the Person

Noah lived 4,600 years ago.  He was a real, historical person and has a very detailed family tree.  The flood is also a real, historical event.  Genesis and the Lord Jesus say so, there are many references to Noah and the flood in the bible.  In almost every continent, there are flood stories. 

What type of a man was Noah?  he has a reputation as the man who built the ark, and sinned after the flood was over in drunkenness.  But let us truly look at Noah as the person he was.

Noah was descended from Seth.  Why is this important?  Noah was brought up in a godly home.  Who is Seth?  Adam's third son.  First Cain, then Abel but Cain murdered Abel and was sent away.  From Cain came the godless line.  After this another son was born to Adam called Seth and the godly line continued through that line. Genesis 4:25-26 "And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth.  For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.  And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD."  Noah was from this line.  Noah's great-grandfather was so much a man of God that he was taken straight from  earth to heaven, that being Enoch. Genesis 5:24 "And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him".

Noah's father, Lamech, called his son Noah because Noah means "rest" or "comfort".  Lamech knew that toil and hardship was in this world and it was a result of human sin and God's curse..  Gen 5:28-29  "And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: and he called his name Noah saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed." So Lamech named his son Noah because he knew that the reason why things were hard and life was troubled was because of human sin.  Lamech knew far more than most modern people.  Lamech knew far more than many Christians in the western world today.  People wonder why bad things happen to Christians.  Lamech knew why bad things happen to good people and this was 4,600 years ago.  Today Christians ask "why did this happen to me?"  Because we live in a cursed, fallen world and these bad thing happen because of human sin.  Lamech lived in a world in which he needed comfort and rest, so he named his son Noah.  God's name would have been mentioned in Noah's home and this influenced the boy Noah.

Ephesians: All of Grace

Ephesians 1:3-10 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.  In whom we have redemption though his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him."

The blessings of God towards his people are amazing, they are spiritual blessings, and believers receive these spiritual blessings in that they are chosen in Christ from before the created order and they are chosen in Christ to be holy and without blame.  They are chosen in Christ to be sanctified, separation from sin to God, chosen to be made positionally holy and blameless.  God chose you for that before you existed.  We are adopted as his own children, he determined beforehand, he decreed from eternity that we would be adopted as his children, that we would be brought into the household of God and receive an eternal inheritance in Christ Jesus. 

By pure grace, which we have no right to, he has made us accepted in the very holy presence of God.  What blessings.  Anyone that would say "so what" or take these blessings for granted has never understood sin or God's holiness because that God would do those things for sinful wretches is absolutely astonishing.  Not to be amazed at these things that the bible says that God has done is to be an easy believer who sees salvation as a human right.  But the true Christian is saved by grace, undeserved mercy.  By grace, no one is saved as a human right.  The church needs to get away from the idea that humans have any right before God.  No one has rights to those things because salvation is of grace through faith.  Only grace.  It is only after we are adopted into his family that we become his children and the inheritors of eternal blessings from God and even then it is by Jesus Christ.  

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace.  

Who are Abraham's Descendants? What are the Covenants of Scripture?

Genesis 12:1-3

Genesis 15:1-21

Abram obeyed God, he left his father's house and his father's land when he was 75.  In Genesis 12 God is voicing a covenant with Abram;  an agreement, a promise between two parties.  There are certain things that Abram has to do, and in light of this there are certain promises that God makes to Abram.  I will give you the land, I will make of you a great nation, I will make you a blessing to all nations, in you shall all families of the earth be blessed.  People have called this covenant that God made with Abram the Covenant of Promise.  In Genesis 15 we see the covenant ratified or made legal in a powerful way.

An explanation of the covenants of scripture.  God always deals with people by way of covenant in the bible.  The Adamic covenant made with Adam: The covenant of works, certain duties imposed by God and then a warning..  "do not eat of the fruit....."  there were consequences for breaking covenants.  This was a contract of relationship between two parties, God and man.  Adam and Eve disobeyed God and broke the covenant and now man is under the sentence of death.  Humans cannot approach God by our works.  It was finished at the fall.

Then the Noahic covenant, the covenant of preservation.  The rainbow is the sign of that covenant.  God promised to do certain things, not to flood the world with water again.  Then there is the Mosaic covenant, the covenant of law and sacrifices.  The law was never meant to save.  If the law was meant to save why did they have a sacrificial system? The law was to show sin, failure to keep the law.  All these covenants can be summed up under three broad sections:

What Does it Mean to be Saved? It Means to Have Faith

Romans 1:15-17  "So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.  For therein is  the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith."
 
There are certain things that a Christian believes and does and if you don't believe and do those things you are not a true Christian.  The gospel defines what a Christian is.    A profession does not define a Christian, nor does love, but truth. God's word defines a Christian.  Salvation is what God says it is, salvation is God's way of saving sinners.  Previous in this series are the topics of being born again, conviction of sin and confession of sin, and then repentance, how important it is to turn away from sin and to God.  These are the minimum you must believe to be a Christian.

Faith follows repentance. 
"Repent and believe"  Salvation is like  a wonderful cake made of different ingredients but when they are all put together you have one cake.  There are certain parts of salvation that affect our lives: being born again, conviction of sin, confession of sin, repentance, faith, holiness, perseverance, these affect our lives. And there are parts that affect our legal standing:  justification, sanctification, reconciliation, atoned for, these are the things of salvation.  Its because salvation is so wonderful that so many words are needed and used to describe it because salvation does so much for us.  You can't describe it in one word.  There is the legal aspect: we are declared righteous, there is relationship: we are adopted into God's family, there is the comfort angle: we are forgiven, there is the sense of value angle: we are so precious that we were redeemed and purchased by the blood of Christ, God's son.

What Does It Mean to be Saved - Repentance

What Does it Mean to be Saved
It Means Repenting of Your Sin

Matthew 21:28-32 "But what think ye? a certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard.  He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.  And he came to the second, and said likewise.  And he answered and said I go, sir: and went not.  Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto hm, The first.  Jesus saith unto them, Verily  I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you."
 
Repentance from sin, a most essential part of the gospel that Christians believe along with being born again, conviction and confession of sin.. the next message in this series called What Does it Mean to be Saved  is repentance from sin. After this will be the message on faith. If you put faith and trust alongside repentance, together those doctrines are the gospel.  The most basic and essential gospel doctrines are repentance and faith.  Without repentance no one can be saved.  Repentance is the most neglected doctrine today.

The parable of Matthew 21:28-32  is about repentance.  True repentance is not just talking about it like the second son, not a mere profession, it is an action,  a change of direction and there is not a teaching that is more central in the bible than the teaching of repentance.  John the Baptist taught it and the Lord Jesus himself, 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."   To preach repentance is to preach the gospel.  Repent and believe is the gospel of God.  If repentance is missing from any preacher or evangelist's preaching, than that preaching is not the gospel of God, but some other gospel.  When our Lord sent out the disciples to preach he commanded that they preach repentance from sin.  Peter always preached repentance, Paul preached the same; repentance.  Acts 17:29-30 "Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.  And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men ever where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead."   Repentance is the command of God to all men, its a universal command.  Repentance cannot be overestimated much less removed from the gospel like the purpose-driven church or the emergent church has done.  They do not mention sin so they do not mention repentance from sin because they do not preach the gospel.

Abel and Cain

Genesis 4: 1-17

Cain and Abel are studies in contrasts of the human nature, Abel was a worshipper, Cain was one who sought the acceptance of God by his works.  And so it is today, nothing has changed.

It is important to mention here that the parents of Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden of Eden because of their disobedience of the LORD God's command to Adam not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.   They are now in a sinful state, they make coverings for themselves with fig leaves (Gen 3:7) but God in his mercy, provided a covering for them, animal skins, which necessitated the slaying of an animal. (Gen 3:21) Thus we know that it is not by the works of our hands that we are acceptable to God.  He provides the way, by the shedding of blood without which there is no remission of sins,  it is only by faith in this sacrifice that we are acceptable.  To Adam and Eve, it was by the blood of an animal, but for us today, it is through the shed precious blood of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so after being driven out Gen 4:1 tells us that "Adam knew Eve his wife and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said I have gotten a man from the Lord."  Maybe Eve thought that this was the promised deliverer of Gen 3:15.  Gen 4:2 tells us "she again bare his brother Abel."  Some people think that Cain and Abel were twins because "again" here  is a different Hebrew word than "again" in Gen 4:25.   In any event, Verse 2 tells us "Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground." Interesting here that Abel's name is given first, and regarding that little word "but"  when it appears like this, problems are sure to follow.

Gen 4:3 "In process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD..." there was a place "Cain brought the fruit" and there was a time "in process of time" where an offering was to be made to the LORD God.  And it is here that the complete difference between Cain and Abel is seen.  Gen 4:4 "And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof...."

Just as the LORD God provided coverings of animal skins to his parents, Abel brought "the firstlings" and as he was a keeper of sheep (V2), this would be a lamb,  a type of the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.   The firstlings means that this was the very best of his flock.   But Cain chose to bring the fruit of the ground, the works of his hands, and at that, not even the best but just "of" the fruit of the ground"    He chose his way instead of God's way, even though God had cursed the ground for the sin of Adam. (Gen 3:17  "..cursed is the ground for thy sake..") and the result? Gen 4:4-5 "And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering he had no respect.  And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell."

Hebrews 11:4  "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain by which he obtained witness that he was righteous..."  Hebrews 11:6  "but without faith it is impossible to please Him..."   Matthew 23:35 calls Abel "righteous Abel" his heart was righteous, and the omniscient Lord knew that the heart of Cain was not righteous.   The fact that Cain became very angry when God did not accept his offering, goes to show that it was not offered in faith,  for if it were by faith, he would not have become angry.   Cain lacked humility but was confident in himself.

Gen 4:6 "And the LORD said unto Cain, why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If you doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door..."   Cain is given opportunity to repent of his anger and bring the proper offering, but also given a warning that if he does not repent, sin is awaiting..  1 Peter 5:8  "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:"

Daily Living: Lessons From the Lake

Lessons From the Lake -  written by me in July, 2009

Today I spent a good deal of time sitting on the deck outside our motel room watching the little events taking place around me.

This morning there were some boys fishing off the floating dock. Their dog, a Labrador retriever, had jumped off the dock and was swimming around having fun, but then it became clear that he was trying to find a way back onto the dock without any success. The owner was calling him, and finally he swam towards one of the boys who grabbed his collar and pulled him to safety on the dock.

That reminded me of the unbeliever in the world, having a good time, and then they come to the end of themselves. The owner on the dock was someone preaching the gospel, repent! Come to the Lord Jesus. Finally the unbeliever believes, and by grace through faith he is saved..

Watching the sky was interesting also. In the Cariboo they say if you don't like the weather wait 5 minutes and it will change. Well, that was true today. Cloudy, then sunny, then very dark clouds, then sunny again. It was like that all day long. This reminds me of the Christian walk. Sometimes everything is going very smoothly, then trials come, and all a believer can do is give their trial to the Lord and trust in Him. Soon in one way or another, the trial will be over, and things will be "sunny" again.

Early this morning I went down to the lake to watch the little fish in the clarity of the water near the shore. But something happened during the day. Little by little I could see tiny flecks of green on the surface and below the surface. First here and there, and by the end of the day, it was a murky mess. The green going down to the depths, and the surface with so much green it looked like an oil spill. But it is not. There are reeds across the lake, and it seems that they are shedding. It didn't take long to change the whole look of the lake close-up.

All day I have been watching people having fun, playing games, fishing, without a clue that we are in the end times, and that things are going to get very bad. The green was a picture to me of the dark times coming in, until the whole world will know the judgment of God.

And finally, something for me.. I am allergic to bees and wasps, and thankfully have not seen but one wasp since we have been here. There have been bees, but gathering pollen on the flowers. This afternoon, as I sat on my deck chair, a bee landed right on my upper arm, hesitated, and then flew away.. This reminded me of the devil going about, seeking whom he may devour. But the Lord is in control, and He protected me from being stung.

The piece above was written in July 2009 when we were vacationing at McLeese Lake in B.C.'s Cariboo..   so much has changed since that time, but I am thankful that the Lord is in control.

Below is my photo of the storm lighting and the little dock.

Bible Men - John 9: The Man Born Blind

The Man Born Blind – John 9

The man born blind has an important distinction in the bible.  Unlike Bartimaeus or Nicodemus, or others that we read of, he did not come to the Lord Jesus or cry out for him, but the Lord Jesus came to him, and the man born blind was used by the Lord Jesus in a mighty way.  This healing is only in the book of John, which is the gospel that proclaims the deity of the Lord Jesus.

One day, as Jesus passed by with his disciples, he saw a man blind from his birth, and the question arose from his disciples regarding who caused his blindness? V2 “And his disciples asked him saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?”  An interesting question, for how could one sin in the womb so that he would be born blind?  But Jesus answered them V3-5 "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.  I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

The bible says in Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" and all are in darkness, but the Lord Jesus is the light of the world - and we are to come out of darkness and into the light by believing the gospel, and receiving the Lord Jesus as our Saviour. Jesus chose to manifest his power over this man's blindness on the sabbath day, the Jews holy day, showing that he was Lord over the sabbath.

And thus speaking, Jesus V6-7 "…….spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay”  Bartimaeus called out to the Lord Jesus to heal him, and Jesus only spoke the word and Bartimaeus could see.  But in this case the blind man's eyes were covered with clay made by the Lord Jesus and lovingly placed on his eyes.  This was to require an act of obedience from the man.  He was told to "go, wash in the pool of Siloam"  he was to go to a particular place for a particular action. The man born blind went, and washed, and "came seeing".  After this, the man born blind becomes a witness for Jesus.

What is the Gospel?

Yesterday came another reminder of the brevity of life, I heard of two deaths.  Therefore I am compelled to post this very important topic called What is the Gospel? and I pray that you will read it in its entirety

What is the Gospel - 15 points

Romans 1:14-18 “I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise and to the unwise.  So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith.  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;”

All your knowledge is divided into 3 categories:  1, things that are not important, 2 things that are important, 3 things that are absolutely essential.  You can live a happy life without knowing certain things.  Some things are interesting, some are useful, but they are not important that they are something  you must know.  Other things are very important that we may understanding, example: how to drive a car according to the rules of the road, how to use a chain saw's safety rules, electrical safety.. if you live a life without knowing important things, you might live a short life.

The gospel is absolutely essential not only for well being, but essential for your everlasting welfare.  If you are ignorant of the gospel for your whole life, you will be suffering the consequences one million years from now.  But if you understand the gospel but accept it and receive it and believe it, you will be receiving the benefits of the knowledge of the gospel in a million years time.

The gospel is the most important subject.  This is the knowledge that we most need..  this knowledge of the gospel is very lacking.  Not all of the gospel is preached, just the part about believing and you are forgiven.  What is the real gospel?  the biblical gospel.  You must know this because if we do not know the real gospel, how are we going to witness it to others?

Looking Unto Jesus

Looking Unto Jesus

Do you ever have this thought come into your mind - "You are not REALLY saved" or do you ever do something that you know you should not do, but you give in to the flesh and speak a word, or do an action that you know grieves the Spirit within?  Do you ever, at that time, feel very away from our heavenly Father?

Brother or sister, those are attacks of the evil one..the one who tempts you where he knows you are weakest.. the one who urges you to not be an overcomer, but to give in to his temptation.

  Looking Unto Jesus - from Morning Devotions by C.H. Spurgeon

It is ever the Holy Spirit's work to turn our eyes away from self to Jesus; but Satan's work is just the opposite of this, for he is constantly trying to make us regard ourselves instead of Christ. He insinuates, "Your sins are too great for pardon; you have no faith; you do not repent enough; you will never be able to continue to the end; you have not the joy of his children; you have such a wavering hold of Jesus." All these are thoughts about self, and we shall never find comfort or assurance by looking within.

But the Holy Spirit turns our eyes entirely away from self: he tells us that we are nothing, but that "Christ is all in all." Remember, therefore, it is not thy hold of Christ that saves thee-it is Christ; it is not thy joy in Christ that saves thee-it is Christ; it is not even faith in Christ, though that be the instrument-it is Christ's blood and merits; therefore, look not so much to thy hand with which thou art grasping Christ, as to Christ; look not to thy hope, but to Jesus, the source of thy hope; look not to thy faith, but to Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith. We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul. If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by "looking unto Jesus." Keep thine eye simply on him; let his death, his sufferings, his merits, his glories, his intercession, be fresh upon thy mind; when thou wakest in the morning look to him; when thou liest down at night look to him. Oh! let not thy hopes or fears come between thee and Jesus; follow hard after him, and he will never fail thee.

(added)

Hebrews 1-2 "........let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The Security of the Believer

The Security of the Believer..

Can a believer ever be lost?  I was saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in 1987, and attended a Brethren assembly until April of 2001 when a series of incidents led to almost all of the members leaving that church.  Until the day that I left that church and prayed for the Lord to show me the truth from His Holy Word, I was always afraid of losing my salvation.  It was after that prayer that the beautiful word "grace" became real to me, and I believed what Jonah said, "Salvation is of the Lord." (Jonah 2:9)  Our salvation is by grace, and not by anything we can do of our own will..  I finally saw that faith is a gift of God, and I knew that it wasn't me who kept myself, but the Lord who kept me..

What does the bible say about this change of heart?

Eze 11:19 "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh":

Eze 36:26 "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"

1 Peter 1:5 says that believers are "kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."

Since that time, I have seen many debates online concerning whether or not the believer is eternally secure, some of them becoming very volatile.  I do believe the bible teaches that believers are secure, and choose to let the bible speak:

First and foremost I am "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith...." (Hebrews 12:1)