Kingdom Come

There is a casual attitude about sin among people who trust that the New Testament letters teaching that “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8) has exempted us from being held responsible for our actions.

This is a gross misunderstanding of what it means to be “saved from sin”. Keep reading the passage in scripture.

“the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world…our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” (Titus 2:11-14)

Many of us who were born into Christian church-going families take our spirituality for granted.

• Now IF we be dead with Christ…Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him…
• Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
• Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
• Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin:
• but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.” (Romans 6:1-23)

The objective of salvation is restoration of a relationship with a holy God.

“And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile…you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled…to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: if ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel…” Colossians 1:20-22)

I am not proposing that we can “lose our salvation,” because John assures us that “My sheep…shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (Joh 10:27-28)

While working at a state mental hospital I had a patient whose life had been nothing but suffering severe abuse from his father, loss of his mother’s moderating influence, and mental illness (undoubtedly inherited from his father). Having been brought up in an Appalachian spiritualist denomination, he had spent weeks suffering hallucinations of burning in hell before psychotropic medication restored his mental clarity. He was on the verge of being discharged to his father’s custody, whose denominational doctrine rejected psychotropic medications, knowing his mental illness would send his mind back to hell, when he approached me and asked about his salvation from hell. How did he know to come to me? It must have been apparent from my dress, speech and behavior that I was not “worldly”. I was able to review his conversion experience with the biblical requirements (from memory) and assure him, using the above verse, that his father’s curses were the devil’s lies. According to the Bible he was saved from hell. He visibly relaxed, left the room and immediately killed himself by intentionally inhaling food and choking to death in the dining room.

Suicide is not an unforgiveable sin. “All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men…But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.” (Mark 3:28-29)

I’ve never known anyone who put his faith in action in God’s word more than this young man.

“My sheep hear / respond to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life;” (John 10:27)

This young man followed Christ to death. Most of us don’t go anywhere near that level of commitment and can’t even bring ourselves to experience social rejection for a righteous lifestyle.

“hereby we do know that we know / are one with him, IF we keep his commandments.  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him…” (I John 2:3-6)

“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee?” (Joshua 1:9)

“faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.“ (Romans 10:17)

Do we really believe Paul’s statement that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” (II Timothy 3:16)?

Not if we ignore and toss aside the Old Testament, despite the fact as laid out above that the Jesus of Christianity has absolutely no validity without the Old Testament.