ARE YOU GUILTY OR INNOCENT IN GOD'S EYES?

This is a short post but a very important one. When I saw this video, related to the death of pop star, Michael Jackson, I thought I should share it here. God gave us his law in order to show us something...please click on this video link and take the test "ARE YOU GUILTY OR INNOCENT IN THE EYES OF GOD?"

BEWARE: FALSE PROFESSIONS!

Perhaps one of the most tragic examples of a lost soul found in the bible is located in Matthew 7:21-23, which says, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
Here we find souls who thought that they were alright with God, safe from judgment, and the reason why they supposed this to be true. They proffer their good works before the Lord as He sits in judgment and are puzzled that they stand wanting. The Lord Jesus Christ gives us a rare glimpse into one situation which will be found on that great day of Judgment (Rev 20:11-15). They profess good works in His name and He professes unto them, "I NEVER KNEW YOU! Depart from me, ye that work iniquity." But how could this have happened and could you be in danger of facing this same predicament?

The problem is that these people had made a false profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ--they might have prayed pretty words at an alter of prayer, but they were insincere about their desire to accept Him as Lord and Savior. This might sound strange, and many FALSELY believe that a true believer could actually lose their salvation because they don't allow for the possibility that someone made false profession in the first place. The bible never suggests that a true believer, having passed from death unto life (John 5:24) could ever become lost again...but does the bible give us examples of false professions? ABSOLUTELY!!

• In Matthew 13:5-6, the bible says, "5Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
  6And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away." -- This parable talks about seed sown on four different kinds of ground and pictures the word of God (gospel) being received by individuals in four different ways. In these particular verses, the seed, is received upon "stony places" without any depth. The plant springs up quickly but then withers away quickly because it has not really taken root. Jesus explains this parable, and these verses, in Matthew 13:20-21, which says, "But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
  21Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended." -- The individual receiving the gospel message (seed) in this way, seems to be happy about hearing it, receives it eagerly and yet INSINCERELY. There is no real root in their heart and by and by they fall away from it. It wasn't a matter of really having something and losing it, but there was the appearance of having and losing.


• In Matthew 13:24-30, we find another parable with a similar, and more focused, message on false professions--the parable of Wheat and Tares. In this parable a farmer sows GOOD SEED (wheat) in his field. But while he sleeps, an enemy comes and sows tares among the wheat. When both spring up there are tares among the wheat. To understand the meaning of this parable is it very important to realize that a tare is a weed that has the appearance of wheat. However when both come to maturity, wheat has the fruit (wheat kernel) while the tare does not. Notice that the tare has the appearance of the true for a time, but then is revealed for what it truly is...a weed only good for burning in the fire.


• Again, we find an example of false professors of faith in Jesus Christ as they manifest themselves for what they are, this time in 1 John 2:18-19 which says, "Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
  19They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us." -- John tells the reader, here, that these false disciples become known as such by there falling away from their profession. Now some might say that they simply got saved and then became lost again...but notice what John actually says. He explains very clearly that they "were not of us." He did NOT say they were of us, but now they are no longer of us (believers). But he makes the distinction that had they been believers they "would NO DOUBT have continued with us: but they went out that it might be made manifest (apparent) that they were not all of us. The apostle's language is very clear on the matter: they didn't lose salvation, only manifested the fact that they had made a false profession in the first place and in time went back to their old lives and dropped their profession of faith in Jesus Christ.


• In Mark 7:16, Jesus said of the religious Pharisees, who claimed to know and do the will of God, "He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." -- These religious men, despite their great PRETENSE of honoring God, actually hated the Lord...when the chips fell, they cried out, regarding God's Son and their Messiah, crucify Him!


• Lastly we see the example left to us of Judas Iscariot. This "son of perdition" answered the same calling as the other disciples. He heard the same teachings of Jesus as the others. He saw the same miracles as the other apostles. He walked with the Son of God. But he remained insincere in his profession of faith and it came out in his works. As they say, Judas Iscariot kissed the Door of Heaven (Jesus, in betrayal) and went straight to Hell.

What a tragedy to come so close to salvation and yet not receive. How foolish to pretend to have surrendered unto God and seemingly turn from sin only to perish in the judgment of God in the end of the matter. Why put up the charade? If you're going to go to the trouble of putting on a religious show, why not just sincerely repent of your sin and put your faith in Jesus? The difference in an insincere profession and a sincere saving faith is the difference between life and death--between HEAVEN & HELL!

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!

Have you ever wondered if the story you read in your local newspaper was actually true? Probably not, but why? If you're like me then you just assume that credible witnesses have been the ones to report the stories taken by reporters. When the Titanic sunk people read about it in the newspaper and believed it even though it was something they couldn't witness themselves. The same with headlines like "The War is Over!" and other vital news we find in print.

But have you ever considered that this is exactly what God has given mankind in the Bible?

Consider then that God's Bible is given through EYEWITNESS accounts all the way through. And how credible are these witnesses? Well consider that these "holy men of old" believed that lying was a very heinous sin that would bring judgment down upon them. And consider that these same Prophets and Apostles were men who believed what they saw and heard to be the absolute truth to such a degree that they were willing to give their very lives rather than deny it!

How many news stories do you think have that kind of credibility behind them? I doubt very many would be willing to lay down their lives for what they've been witness to! And yet people think the Bible is simply a book of fiction and fairy tales, when nothing could be further from the truth.

God gave us His word so that we could understand our lost condition as sinners and also reveal His will for mankind. He desires sinners to be saved through faith in Jesus Christ. He wants to rescue mankind from our fallen and separated condition so that we may escape the wrath of God which is coming upon the world in the future.

If you didn't think a news story was credible, you might do some investigation in order to verify the account. You can do the same with the Bible!! God has foretold many things that would come to pass and history verifies His predictions every single time!! If you want to know if what He said will happen in our future is true, then simply look at all he's predicted with 100% accuracy in the past! The same Bible that says Jesus is coming again, foretold his first coming, in order to die for our sins as a sacrifice, hundreds of years before the actual events occurred. God declares the End from the Beginning! Our faith in Jesus is not blind faith, but verifiable eyewitness accounts! I believe on Christ because of the news report faithful, honest men have given in the past to these events....they saw him die and they saw him rise again from the dead and they were willing to die for the truth they witnessed because He is the only way of salvation!!

THE ONLY "MESSIAH" PROPHECY?

DID YOU KNOW THAT THERE IS ONLY ONE "MESSIAH" PROPHECY? Whoa! Wait a minute preacher! There are lots of prophecies about the Messiah!
True, but did you know that the Old Testament contains only one prophecy that mentions THE MESSIAH by name? This is found as part of the Seventy Weeks prophecy in Daniel 9:25,26.

"Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem unto Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall even in
troublous times. 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."

This is the only prophecy which names the Messiah doing anything from the Old Testament, although there are certainly other references. Now if you wanted to know what the Messiah would do, wouldn't you first go to the one prophecy that actually names him as such?

I had the opportunity to converse with a Rabbi and according to Judaism, Jesus couldn't possibly be the Messiah because he died. But wait, what did the one prophecy say about the Messiah when he appears? It said he would come at a particular time and when he arrived he would be "cut off" but it also said, "not for himself." Did you catch that? The Bible said that when Messiah comes he will DIE FOR OTHERS! Yet the Rabbis would say he can't be the Messiah because Messiah doesn't die...WRONGO! The Messiah must Die when he comes...die for others and that's exactly what the Lord Jesus did when he came!

WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN?

PHILOSOPHERS would argue that GOD cannot exist because evil exists in the world...the fundamental (fun & mental) question becoming: "How could a benevolent, all knowing, all powerful God allow BAD THINGS to happen?"

This is a completely valid question and one for which the Bible has the answer! Let's examine the facts, shall we?

Genesis tells us that when God had completed his creative work, he examined everything and said it was all GOOD! So what happened?

1. 
   
   Rather than worshipful robots, God created his creatures with a free will. The angels have free will and some chose to rebel, Lucifer being apparently chief instigator in that rebellion.


2. 
   
   Lucifer/Satan then tempted mankind in the garden of Eden with disobedience to God's clear commandment not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil...mankind disobeyed God and became sinners like Satan.


3. 
   
   Romans 5 informs us that this initial rebellion affected all of Adam & Eve's descendants coming into the world...so that all became sinners and sin's death penalty passed unto all mankind.


4. 
   
   Not only that, but the entire world is now under a curse because of our initial and continued rebellion to our Creator!


5. 
   
   Man still has a free will and a natural tendency toward sin...so of course BAD THINGS are going to happen! Man chooses to make bad things happen! There are consequences for our daily rebellion in which we inflict ourselves upon other's lives with consequences.

The whole creation is groaning (Rom 8) and travailing just waiting for God's plan to come all the way around where sin will be judged and put down forever, where Righteousness will prevail and the Redeemed will live forever in a NEW HEAVEN and NEW EARTH. Folks God's plan isn't to renovate what we all polluted with sin. His goal in creation is to do a short work upon the Earth and cut it short in Righteousness (Rom 9)! God made everything good knowing that his creatures would pollute it, that he would have to redeem it, that he would have to come down from heaven in the form of humanity and pay for our sins to do it, and that ultimately he would re-create the heavens and the Earth for the redeemed to inhabit a creation that is ALL GOOD! No wonder the bible proclaims (Rom 8) that "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them called according to His purpose!"

STREETS OF GOLD IN HEAVEN?

Does Heaven really have streets of gold? Just asking that question might insight the rancor of my fellow Christians, but I think we often miss fundamental things about God's Word by not paying close enough attention. The bible tells us of three distinct "Heavens" which exist in Creation.

1. 
   
   The Firmament or "Atmosphere" of Earth mentioned in Genesis, which is where the birds fly and planes, when they're doing alright.


2. 
   
   The Celestial Heaven or space containing all of the various planetary bodies, stars and so forth. These declare the glory of God.


3. 
   
   The Third Heaven mentioned by Paul particularly, which is the dwelling place of God in the spiritual realm.

Now, none of these is ever said to have streets of Gold as we generally describe Heaven. The fact of the matter is that when we use these descriptions of "Streets of Gold and Gates of Pearl, etc," we are actually referring to the God-made city of New Jerusalem. But this is not Heaven in any of the three forms mentioned in scripture. The bible (Rev 21) says that New Jerusalem descends from God out of Heaven. Now we may postulate that this city actually comes into existence from the spiritual realm where God dwells and enters the physical realm to at the very least remain in orbit with the New Earth. Since the city's dimensions are approximately 1500 miles in height, width and length and is never said to actually touch down on the earth, it is safe to say that it might only remain in orbit, though at that size, highly visible.

One of the things Christians generalize away when considering eternity, is the fact that we aren't ever said to be hanging around on a cloud playing a harp, twinking halos. The future for a Christian is highly active...Praise the Lord for that cause I get bored easy! Think about all that the bible foretells:

1. 
   
   finishing our natural lives pursuing the Great Commission and a close, faithful walk with God...all with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit.


2. 
   
   The gathering of all believers at the rapture, receiving glorified bodies at that time.


3. 
   
   The Judgment Seat of Christ, where every believer will give an account of their faithfulness to the work we have now (#1).


4. 
   
   The Marriage Supper of the Lamb, a great celebration which appears to follow the Judgment Seat and precede the Second Coming of Christ.


5. 
   
   The Second Coming of Christ where he will come with the armies of heaven...that's us as well folks...see Jude 14...and the battle of Armageddon!


6. 
   
   The establishment of Christs kingdom upon a renewed earth following the battle and imprisonment of Satan himself in the pit.


7. 
   
   The co-governing of Christ's kingdom with our Lord for 1,000 years leading to the final rebellion of Satan and mankind.


8. 
   
   The Great White Throne judgment where we will almost certainly stand present..."and so shall we ever be with the Lord." Likewise we will stand in judgment at some point of the angels that rebelled, perhaps at the same time Satan is judged finally...though we aren't told.


9. 
   
   A new Heaven and Earth will be created and the New Jerusalem will come down from God out of Heaven. We believers shall inhabit that city for eternity as well as having access to the new Earth and very likely access to the entire creation...no death, no pain, glorified bodies...oh, I'd say that's likely.

The point is that we have a lot going on for the believer in Jesus Christ...if we study the Word of God, we'll find not only greater accuracy in our understanding but a glorious future that shall never end!

THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION--MADE EASY!

For our first installment we will be looking at Ephesians 1: 1-4. I will allow you to read it yourself and simply refer to it by verse as we take a look at this very important yet misunderstood doctrine (teaching) of the bible. In particular we will refer to verse 4.

This doctrine is much debated and very misunderstood. I want to say at the outset that every teaching in God's Word sits side by side with every other in HARMONY. The discord comes from our lack of understanding, NOT a problem with God's Word.

People are made to feel as though they must choose sides regarding the doctrine of Election. Some theologians teach that God made a choice and man has no choice. Others take an opposing view and believe that man has a choice and God doesn't want a choice. These positions are generally taught under the headings: Calvinism and Arminianism respectively. Both of these positions will have problems with the bible in different places. Calvinists, for example, have problems with certain words like: "ALL," and "World" when passages refer to God's desire to save ALL people or God's love for this WORLD of sinners such as John 3:16.

These opposing views generally stem from a lack of understanding how these biblical truths can sit side by side. The Bible clearly teaches that God has chosen (elected) and likewise that man has a choice to make in response to what God has done through Jesus Christ. Man is not a robot. God made man with the capacity of choice (free will) and he interacts with man and holds man responsible based on that capacity for choice.

When God seeks man and confronts man with his lost condition and the means of salvation, man is expected to respond with a choice. Man, by nature, does not seek after God, but God does seek after man. Man is not overriding God's will by responding to God's seeking, rather he is fulfilling it. Responding to God's seeking is not a "work of righteousness" and it does not fulfill The Law of God (as though we were saved by works)...let's remember these things as we look at ELECTION.

The bible clearly teaches that God elected (Chose) two groups of people for different purposes in his overall plan. First, God chose an Earthly nation of people, known as Israel. This nation would be used by God to glorify His name in the Earth, to pen the scriptures and make them available to the world and to bring the promises of salvation and the Messiah into the world. It must be mentioned that God chose them as a group--one that you were either born into or, as in the O.T. provisions, you joined the nation and were accepted. This election of the nation and individuals among that lineage were for these purposes as seen in the misunderstood Romans chapter 9. God electing this nation DID NOT CHANGE THEIR NATURE or cause them to be BORN AGAIN! In fact it can be seen that Israel were continually rebellious toward God...why? Because electing them did not change their nature. Salvation has always been a matter of Faith in God.

The second group that God elected (chose) is Believers in Jesus Christ. Now, to begin with, the bible NEVER states that God ever randomly picked individuals from among human history and overrode their will, forcing them to be born again into the family of God. However, as we find in Ephesians 1:4, God did choose. Whom did he choose? Paul says he chose "us." Now, go back to Eph 1:1 and notice Paul's greeting. He is writing this epistle (letter) to the "saints." Saints are those who believe in Christ for salvation. So, Paul is stating that God chose "believers in Christ" and when he chose "believers in Christ" -- before the foundation of the world.

So, now we find that God chose a group. This group is "In Him," (In Christ) according to Eph 1:4. This is absolutely the truth: every saved person is "In Christ," and all lost people are "Not In Christ."

So, we have two groups in human history: IN CHRIST and NOT IN CHRIST. God's bible declares emphatically that the IN CHRIST group has been elected (chosen) by God to be "accepted" by Him, cleansed of sins (justified), made a new creature, placed into his family and be his people for all eternity to come.

God has not elected (chosen) the NOT IN CHRIST group. These remain as they are--in their own sins and subject to the judgment of God for breaking his Holy Law. This is where God's choice plays into the doctrine of Election...

How does man's choice come into this doctrine? It would be a monumental task to ignore the many, many scriptures where God holds man responsible for a choice in the matter of obeying the gospel and being born again by faith in Jesus Christ. Subsequently, this is exactly how a sinner becomes a part of the ELECT group. God seeks sinners and by the use of the law, he shows sinners that they are guilty and in danger of judgment. God also shows us that he loves mankind and sent his only begotten Son, Jesus, to fulfill the requirements of God's law (which we never could) by his death upon the cross and his resurrection.

When a sinner understands and believes he is lost, then he may respond to God's charge to be saved. God has given man a choice, by grace (undeserved favor) and we must make it. When a sinner turns from their old sinful nature to put genuine faith in Jesus Christ, they are "Born Again" and become part of that elect group, IN CHRIST.

So, we see easily that God has chosen and Man is also given a choice by God. And God expects man to make that choice wisely. Here's the clincher though: God has already informed mankind of His choice. So, we can know beforehand that if we choose Christ, then we are going to be part of that elect and accepted group, but if we reject Christ then we are likewise rejected by God, left in our sins and subject to His judgment.

To finish up let me give you a quick example of Election: In our government, we have essentially a two party system (Democrats and Republicans). We know the independents don't have a chance, so the example works :)

As a voter you are essentially choosing one group or another and the current figurehead of the group. God has chosen (elected) the group He will accept.

The members of each party, Democrat or Republican, were not chosen by the voters. You join each group based upon your beliefs, just as individuals choose to become either "In Christ" or to remain "Not in Christ."

The voters have a choice and the individual has a choice--just as God has a choice and has given man a choice. Both of these facts sit side by side in harmony in the word of God.