Whoever will be saved from their destructive circumstances at any time in history must obey God’s Christ / AKA Champion.
Whosoever will be saved from the same permanent isolation from the Giver of Life as Eve experienced with Adam’s sacrifice of his life for her, must like her repent of their self-indulgent but destructive mindset-driven actions and choose to be transformed into the likeness of God – a son / offspring of God by behaviors proving conversion.
- “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
- And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.
- And he said, I tell thee, Peter…thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.” (Luke 22:31-34)
We can’t talk our way into heaven. We have to walk our way there.
Growing up in a Baptist church I was taught that Christianity was superior to Judaism because the Jews had to follow the law of Moses to earn salvation, while Christians could simply name it and claim it.
“Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”
- For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
- But the righteousness which is of faith…which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Romans 10:6-16)
This is the problem with memorizing a few verses out of context without taking the entire message as a whole
The Romans Road is basically a set of key verses that take us through Paul’s Gospel presentation and explains in a simple, shorthand form, the Gospel…
- confirms the state of every human as sinful and the state of God as holy…
- explains the hope we have in the love of God expressed through Christ…
- If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved…
- believers are gifted eternal life with God.
A Roman’s Road Prayer
God, I know that I am a sinner and that the wages of sin are death. I believe that you sent your Son, Jesus Christ, as a payment for my punishment. I declare that Jesus is my Lord and profess my faith for salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus. Thank you for your grace, forgiveness, peace, and gift of eternal life. Amen!”
NOT TRUE!
Every bride and groom understands that just because you’ve been gifted with a kitchen appliance doesn’t mean you value or will use the gift unless you chose to do so.
By itself, God’s gift of forgiveness does not provide eternal life through connection with him any more than a human forgiving an abusive spouse restores a marital relationship.
Righteousness is NOT believing God.
“Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” (James 2:19-20)
Righteousness is acting in accordance with what mirrors God.
It’s like a marriage relationship. You can go through the ceremony and say the words “I do”, but unless you actually “do” and consummate the marriage you are not in a marriage relationship and it can be annulled – it never existed. I know a woman who, during divorce proceedings involving underage children which by law requires 12 months’ separation before finalizing a divorce, was granted the divorce within just a couple of months upon the judge learning that her husband had refused to have sex with her for the last three years. The husband had factually ended the marriage during that time.
Faith in action by our bodies is what transforms the neuronal structure of our souls, transforming us into the likeness of Christ / The Promised Redeemer.
“present your bodies a living sacrifice…transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:1-2)
The easy belief system that promises miraculous healing from the consequences of sin in this life and rescue from hell in the afterlife without requiring any changes in that person’s lifestyle is called enabling in Psychology. People who enable keep the enabled person engaging in self destruction for the benefit of the enabler, either to feel superior, or to avoid the battle inevitably involved in confronting bad behavior.
The Bible calls that “a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 16:25)
To claim salvation simply by asking Jesus to save us from the consequences of sin after we die while rejecting his power to save us from the consequences while alive is not only illogical, it is false, it is not substantiated by God’s word, it is deception, loving and making a lie, with all its consequences of separation from God – now and forever.
“Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city…there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie:” (Revelation 22)
Believing and obeying God’s word is not easy. It means death to self – relinquishing a self-centered way of life and replacing it with God’ concern and care for humanity, which will inevitably result in conflicts with family, social, employer and political authorities who want us to identify with them and their values.
“If any man come to me, and hate / reject [like anchovies or pineapple on pizza – the opposite of like / choose] not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters [renounce family ties if contrary to YHVH] yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross [accept social and political persecution] and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26-27)
This is the only spiritual belief system that has ever saved anyone.
“Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?…But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.” (Romans 6:14-23)
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them…who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death…That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after 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…
- For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die:
- but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, THEY are the sons of God.” (Romans 8:1-14)
This is not a Christian prerogative. This dates back to God’s covenant to make humans in his likeness and empower them as his offspring – not hyperdimensional beings – to have dominion over creation.
Remember how Lucifer would have rained down chaos and destruction on the entire universe when he refused to follow YHVH’s leadership. God doesn’t allow humans to wreak havoc by their sin and come home to heaven to live forever after either.
Christianity’s problem is failing to recognize the harm caused by sin, which is defined by doing anything other than the right way established in this Creation by the laws of physics which includes all power – spiritual as well as that which translates into our material world like high electric voltage lines.
And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi…And Moses commanded them, saying…thou shalt read this law before
-
- all Israel in their hearing…
- AND thy stranger that is within thy gates,
that they may…
- fear the LORD your God,
- AND observe to do all the words of this law:“ (Deuteronomy 31:9-12)
That’s to ensure life!
“And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this…[the woman’s] seed…shall bruise [crush] thy head [destroy your power over death].” (Genesis 2:16-17, 3:1-15)
The process for being redeemed from God’s judgment is found to be the same prior to the Savior’s death as it has been, of his promise.
Trusting that YHVH’s Deliverer from any era will deliver us from evil means that there are actions required of us. There are things we must do in order to be saved, to be rescued, to “turn captivity.”
Prior to knowing of Jesus Christ’s perfected sacrifice, believing and acting on God’s word took the form of shedding the life-carrying blood of an innocent animal as a substitute for God’s promised sinless human, as did Abel in contrast to Cain and the hordes of internationals who gathered for shelter with the Hebrews under the blood of the lamb in Egypt who understood perfectly the vicarious aspect of the death. Blood sacrifice is not unique to YHVH, it is known and practiced throughout the ancient and spirit-worshipping cultures of the world.
Yes, we need a champion who can do for us whatever we can’t do for ourselves. But that doesn’t mean we do nothing.
Whoever will be saved must publicly demonstrate their inner desire for spiritual immersion / identification with the Savior.
- “And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground:” (Exodus 14)
- “Moreover, [Corinthians, therefore Gentiles] brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.” ( I Corinthians 10:1-4)
- “Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master…but he was a leper…So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him [treating this mighty conqueror of Israel as inferior to the poor prophet, accurately representing Almighty God], saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean…But Naaman…said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and [respect my high status]…So he turned and went away in a rage. And his servants came near, and spake unto him…Then went he down…according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.” (II Kings 5)
Kingdom Come 