Posted on 09/05/2019 8:31:18 AM PDT by pastorbillrandles
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. ( I Corinthians 1:18-19)
For the word of the cross is foolishness to those whoare perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I Will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.” ( I Corinthians 1:18-19 NASV)
There are many misunderstandings about Salvation which lead to the various positions people of good will and good faith labor under, concerning this issue.
One major problem is that the very nature of salvation is vastly misunderstood. Scripture presents Salvation as a process. There is a past, present and future aspect of Salvation.
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:1-2)
Paul presents the gospel here in it’s simplest form, and declares that by receiving this gospel, we stand in salvation…but then he adds a condition, “If Ye keep in memory …” that gospel. The Apostle then holds forth that it is a possibility to have believed in vain.
He does a similar thing in Collossians,
And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, 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, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; (Collosians 1:21-23)
What about these “Ifs”? Are they not conditions? “If we continue in faith…and be not moved away?… What? If not, What?
One solution to this question comes also from Paul, in the passage in I Corinthians 1 above. I am no Greek scholar and do not pretend to be, but I can read concordances and commentaries. The Greek language has a continuous participle, which would render the word “Perish” , as “are perishing”, and the Word “Saved” as “Being Saved”. We are in a continuous process in salvation from the day we commence to the Day of the LORD.
Again Paul in Romans 5;
Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. ( Romans 5:9-11)
In this much loved and assuring passage, we are simultaneously told that Now (presently) we are justified, and yet “We shall be saved” (Future) … There is a past, present and future aspect to Salvation.
Instantly , when I accepted the Revelation of God in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, I was saved, (Justified). I then commenced an ongoing process of (Sanctification) discipleship, which I continue in to this day, and I await the final Salvation, when this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality. Then my Salvation shall be complete at the resurrection of my sin riddled body.
Until then, I am Being Saved… according to the Apostle Paul.
But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us; ( 2 Corinthians 1: 9-10)Next we will look at what Jesus taught us about salvation…
And yet; the Mormons teach...
So you are a saved by grace; kept by works fella.
And THIS is how it's going down:
Exodus 32:32-33
But now, if you will forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.” But the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book.
Daniel 12:1
“At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.Philippians 4:3
And I intreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellowlabourers, whose names are in the book of life.
Revelation 3:5
He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
Revelation 13:8
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.Revelation 17:8
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.Revelation 20:11-15
"Then I saw a great White Throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and THE BOOKS WERE OPENED. Another book was opened WHICH IS THE BOOK OF LIFE. The dead were judged according to their works as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to their works. Then death and Hades were thrown into the Lake of Fire. The Lake of Fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written IN THE BOOK OF LIFE, he was thrown into the lake of fire."Revelation 21:27Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
One is left with the nagging feeling, “Have I been processed enough?”
Hebrews 11:8-19 New International Version (NIV)
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she[a] considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”[b] 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.
By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did.
By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings.
And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
JWs?
Mormon missionaries??
Avon lady???
17. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
18. All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
19. that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
20. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.
A process is finished when it’s finished and not before.
The process of salvation is finished when one dies (”faithful unto death”) and not before one dies.
Paul was nearing the end of his life and knew the process of salvation for him was about over when he wrote “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:”
Abraham had an obedient faith and his justification was a process that BEGAN in Genesis 12 when he was told to leave his house, land and kindred. Had Abraham rebelled in Genesis 12 against God and not moved, then the process of his justification would have ended and Abraham would have not been justified before God.
Hebrews 11:4 Abel also had an obedient faith in doing as God told him therefore Abel is called “righteous”.
Those OT characters mentioned in Hebrews 11 had obedient faiths, they are said to have “worked righteousness”, (Heb 11:33). Peter says in Acts 10:35 that anyone anywhere that “works righteousness” is accepted with God. Doing God’s righteousness is a process until one dies...”And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works UNTO THE END, to him will I give power over the nations:” (Rev 2:26)
JWs? Mormon missionaries??
No; they must have our address marked, as they have avoided us for years even though they are seen weekly on the same street, since we often confront them on the sidewalks with truth vs. their errors annd warn them of the consequences of preaching a false gospel.
The only exception to this avoidance is when they have their yearly convention and send out teams from other areas.
May God peradventure grant them and all "repentance to the acknowledging of the truth." (2 Timothy 2:25)
Avon lady???
Are they still in business? It was someone looking to get their bike fixed. glad I could do it.
I know the feeling!! ;^)
Placemarker
That's because purgatory was never there to begin with...It was called Paradise...Does that sound like purgatory to you???
This purgatory, Paradise, Abraham's Bosom had gates to it...These people were waiting for heaven...They were not being punished per the mythical purgatory of the Catholic religion...They had to wait because heaven was not yet prepared for them...
The biblical Paradise had locked gates that kept the people from leaving...Jesus went there and removed the locks and flung the gates wide open, never to be shut again...There was no need, heaven was prepared...No one goes there anymore...
The vast majority of the people to have ever lived in the world have never even heard the name of Christ Jesus. Are they then doomed, through no fault of their own to eternal damnation? If they are damned am I to be punished for not telling those in my lifetime who I could have reached?
Not if you're a born again Christian...However;
Jas 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
You will not be punished for failing to spread the word of God but you will not receive the rewards that those who preach the word will receive...
The vast majority of the people to have ever lived in the world have never even heard the name of Christ Jesus. Are they then doomed, through no fault of their own to eternal damnation?
Rom 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
Rom 5:13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Rom 4:15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.
If these people you are referring to don't know the Law of God, they can't break the law and be judged for it...This then is your answer:
Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Even those who don't know God/Jesus know that there is a power from above that has a hand in every thing on Earth...And they know in their hearts the difference between good and evil...
Rom 2:12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
Rom 2:13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
Rom 2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
Those people will be judged by what's in their hearts...Good and bad is pretty much universal...They are not automatically doomed to hell...
I have a problem with the vast majority of humanity who have never heard God’s word being condemned for eternity. Surely a God of love would not do that. There is much to admire in much of Protestantism but that condemnation is not part of it. I don’t think I could ever be a part of such an organization that condemns people because of where or when they were born.
Your religion sadly, has misinformed you about what non Catholics believe...And it is sad that people who claim to be Christians of the One True Church (because some man who wears a religious looking robe told him so) are so ignorant of what God actually teaches in the scriptures he provided and preserved for those who want to follow him...
Seed planted in shallow ground...The context is being grounded or not in what you learned...
We have been sealed with the Holy Spirit which only saved people acquire...
Eph 1:13 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,
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
And yet; Genesis 13:13 appears to come BEFORE the 'law' was given...
HMMMmmm…
John 3:18
AHhhh…
The imputed part!
HMMMmmm…
John 3:18
Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
There's a difference between not believing and not knowing...
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