Posted on 05/08/2020 4:37:58 PM PDT by pastorbillrandles
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:4-6)
The famous “Faith Chapter” in the book of Hebrews, begins with two Saints, Abel and Enoch as examples of faith which we are to imitate. Faith is the point, for faith is the only way to please God.
I once asked the LORD, ‘Why Faith? Why is that what you require?” I believe I received several answers in the form of scripture and impressions, from the LORD. God requires faith, because we simply cannot save ourselves. Only God can save our souls, no one can redeem themselves, therefore Faith is required, because faith glorifies God and not man.
Another reason for the requirement of faith that came to me, is that our problems began when we quit believing in the goodness of God. Adam and Eve were willing to entertain a false and degraded notion of God, that He was holding something back that would be good for the first couple. The Serpent bore false witness about the LORD, and they believed it.
The way back? It has to be faith. We must repent and believe again in the goodness of God.
The “hall of faith” begins with Abel and Enoch. One Saint who was murdered for his faith, and for bearing witness to God in a hostile world. There would be literally millions upon millions who would follow in his footsteps, being willing to let go of their life rather than deny the truth of God.
The other Saint, Enoch, was a man who lived in a kind of “end times scenario” living in the time leading up to the flood. It was a day of Apostasy, but Enoch walked with God, until God took Him home. He didn’t die , He was raptured. God took him home, to be with himself.
Faith was required of each of them.
I believe that we also live in an end-time. I have no doubt that Jesus is coming, and in our lifetime. What makes us unique is the re-emergence of the nation of Israel, in 1948, in fulfillment of the prophecies about the last of the last days. All of the prophets pre-supposed that there would be a national Israel, and a Jewish occupied city of Jerusalem, as well as a controversy over Judea, (The West bank) which would engulf the whole world.
The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel, saith the Lord, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. (Zechariah 12:1-3)
Which brings us back to our two Saints at the beginning of Hebrews 11. One died, He was martyred for his witness to God. The other one did not die. He was Raptured. Both of these Saints lived by Faith and Pleased God.
I believe that this speaks to us in our generation.
No doubt. many of us will end up dying. Perhaps some of us will be given an opportunity to be martyred. We are Saints and love God, but all things being equal, unless the LORD returns, we will die, one way or another.
(Of course, Christians don’t really die, they “go to sleep”) but the real point is that Faith is the only way to please God.
But according to the scriptures, there is a unique end-times event, coming, as I hope I have pointed out in this series, called the Rapture, or “Our gathering together unto Him”, “the Episynagogue” and Jesus coming to “take us where (He)…is, unto himself”. The LORD is coming to snatch us off the earth with a swift and irresistable power”.
To participate in such an event is a rare honor among the countless Millions of Saints who believed in Jesus before us.
But whether we die, or are martyred, o whether we are raptured, the real point is that we must live our lives by Faith,which is the only way to please God.
This is why I do not enter into the countless discussions as to the timing of the Rapture. “Will The Rapture be pre- ,mid , or post Tribulation”?
Honesty, the only things I am sure about the Rapture at all are that it is:
* For God’s Saints only, and the prospect of it is a comfort.
* A Mystery revealed in the New Testament era.
* It occurs before the actual “Wrath ” of God.
* It involves the “dead in Christ” as well as “We who are alive, until the coming of the LORD”.
As far as I know, all else can only be speculation. God doesn’t want us to know the exact timing otherwise it would be clearer. I am glad there is a Rapture, and my prayer has always been that I be involved in it, while alive. But I cannot say with certainty what the timing of it is, so I don’t.
What counts is Faith in Jesus. Not dead works, but a living, vital, infectious faith. Let us have a faith which still moves us to confess and forsake our sins, to Love and seek God. To forgive and love our brothers, and a faith which moves us to share with others what God has shown to us. Is your faith alive? Do you have oil in your lamp? Are you current with God?
We Overcome the World by our faith. “This is the victory that overcometh the World…our faith”. We overcome the Spirit of antiChrist also, by our faith. So also we overcome the sins that so easily beset us, and the Coldness and soul deadening effect of this world, by our Faith.
Of course we want out of here, we can increasingly see that there is nothing in this World for we who believe, but rejection and opposition.I want Jesus to come, and Long for the Rapture. I am either going up in it, or I am gong to die, but one way or another we are leaving.
Either way, the point is Faith. So I will leave the timing of the Rapture to God, and just strive to be counted worthy to attain it, whether ded or alive.
Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. (Luke 21:35)
We are saved by grace (faith) but we are judged by the law.
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The life, death, salvation, or damnation of us all perfectly stated in one sentence! Beautiful!
I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
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The “law” as referred to here are to Jewish dietary and other such laws, NOT to those enumerated in the Ten Commandments and to other commandments taught to Believers by Jesus and His disciples. This confusion is so typical of people who have been led astray by their own “itching ears”!
You are a false teacher. Those who are the born agains of the Bride of Christ have been judged at the cross, in Christ, and ‘therefore there is now no condemntstion for those who are in Christ Jesus.’ You and you Catholic buddy are false teachers contradicting Jesus and the Bible.
This is a bold LIE: “We are saved by grace (faith) but we are judged by the law.”
The Spirit tells you in 1 John 3:9, which you haven't the spiritual discernment to read: 9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for His seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. KJV
The people like you cannot understand that passage for the truth of it because you do not understand what Salvation is or how God works it.
The spirit is dead in trespasses and sins until He, GOD, washes the spirit clean and ABIDES THEREIN so that the spirit portion of the redeemed, the Body of Christ members have a spirit that remains sinless even as the sin-taught soul goes on sinning unless the will is submitted to the direction of the now alive spirit of God in their human spirit.
That is why Paul said to be transformed by the renewing of your mind! The outward manifestation of God in you is the transformative power of GOD renewing your mind, the mind of the sin-burdened soul. God in you, the hope of Glory, renews your mind as you submit to His directions.
Your Catholic buddy is also a false teacher, spouting the fiction of purgatory, because he/she does not understand 1 John 3:9 so he/she pushed this mythical purgatory as if the Blood of Christ has not cleansed the spirit of ALL UNRIGHEOUSNESS and has GOD's life abiding therein. God did not go to that Cross to put His Life in the sin-laden soul or body, for He will make a new one at the gathering to Himself in the great departure coming very soon to this planet.
SIN remains in the soul even after being born again in the spirit where God abides, and that is why GOD makes a new body and behavior mechanism for your born again spirit when the Rapture departure happens.
YOU will know soon enough, and do not accept it is my advice to you, false teacher.
John 6:65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
You can’t receive something without your consent.
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Ha! Tell that to everyone who now has the Chi-Com Virus!
You can get something or catch it. But if I come down with the Chicom flu, I got it, I didn’t receive it.
Receiving it implies accepting it.
Look up the definition of *receive*.
Receiving it implies accepting it.
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Really? Well explain that to someone who receives the death sentence for her crimes!
I mean no offense to you metmon, but you are simply wrong. The entire bible theme is love God and obey.
Romans 2:12-24 King James Version (KJV)
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;
13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
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:
15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
17 Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,
18 And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law;
19 And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,
20 An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.
21 Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
22 Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
23 Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.
Who was Jesus Christ
and why did He have to Die?
Here is the conclusion of the article below:
So the author of the law, the Son of God, had to die because His Law could not be changed. It stands eternal, forever, the law of liberty and righteousness, the very character of God put in words. By dying in our place, He has offered His perfection, His ability to keep the Law of God perfectly, to you a sinner. The demands of the Law of God are met, paid for in full. By believing on Jesus Christ in this matter, you can put on His robe of Righteousness and God will consider you to be perfect, a keeper of the Law, fit to live with Him forever!
John 3:36; He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
The choice is yours. Stay a sinner and die forever, or put on the Righteousness of Jesus Christ and live forever as a child of God in His kingdom. God will honor the choice that you make.
http://www.aloha.net/~mikesch/gospel.htm
Yes, there is a big difference between the ceremonial law and God’s eternal 10 commandment law and statutes.
Where I will respectfully disagree with FFJ is that the dietary laws found in Leviticus are not included in the Ceremonial law. They are still binding on God’s people.
You continue to push a false gospel. YOU cannot earn God’s Grace by being obedient to the Law. Being born again is not a transactional event, it is receiving God’s Grace by faithing / trusting ONLY in Whom He has sent for our deliverance from our sinful self. It is interesting that Paul anticipated folks like you ... he addressed you and your ‘other gospel’.
I sent this to Metmom but I see now that you haven’t read it. So, I’m going to send it to you too. You call me a false teacher and a liar? Those are strong accusations but I take no offense, really. Because by saying that to me you are in effect saying the same thing to Paul and God and that means I am in good company indeed. I DIDN’T WRITE IT, THEY DID. I just copied and pasted it from the bible. How can anyone, and I mean anyone, explain that passage (Romans 2:12-24) any other way? It is absolutely clear.
Here it is again for you MGHinTN. sorry to everyone else for reproducing it in it’s entirety but this something MGHinTN needs to process.
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;
13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
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:
15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.
17 Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God,
18 And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law;
19 And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness,
20 An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.
21 Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
22 Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
23 Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.
“You are a false teacher. Those who are the born agains of the Bride of Christ have been judged at the cross, in Christ, and ‘therefore there is now no condemntstion for those who are in Christ Jesus.’ You and you Catholic buddy are false teachers contradicting Jesus and the Bible.”
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Some of the best Christians I have ever met are/were Catholics (many have since died). They loved Christ and at least outwardly from what I saw lived a Christ-serving life. I have never come down on Catholic people. My issue is the Church as a whole. I believe that many are in “Babylon” and that includes born again Christians of many denominations (just look at the articles and video I’ve posted). And again, I don’t mean to offend anyone. This is the perfect forum to discuss those differences in a civil and Christian manner. FFJ and I believe the same on many important biblical concepts that are crystal clear in the bible and not hard to understand. MHGinTN, others have told you, such as GBA, that your explanations of biblical principles are hard to understand. It’s true. Your problem is that you don’t let the bible explain itself and it seems you are not too keen on the old testament either. That’s what Christ quoted from BTW. The old testament testified of Him.
I will also say that you are flat out wrong about the “there is now no condemnation” comment. That refers to the condemnation of the CEREMONIAL LAW and the book of ordinances written by Moses, nailed to the Cross (the sacrificial system). It has NOTHING to do with God’s eternal 10 commandment law. I’ll go over that later because it’s important to understand.
AMEN!
John 6:65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
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John 14:21
Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.”
Let me break this down for you MHGinTn:
If you love Jesus you will keep (has) his commandments. If you keep his commandments you will also be loved by God the Father. If you keep his commandments Jesus will reveal himself to you. So, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”. Maybe this is why your biblical reasoning is so convoluted? Just saying.
“You continue to push a false gospel. YOU cannot earn God’s Grace by being obedient to the Law. Being born again is not a transactional event, it is receiving God’s Grace by faithing / trusting ONLY in Whom He has sent for our deliverance from our sinful self. It is interesting that Paul anticipated folks like you ... he addressed you and your ‘other gospel’.”
GRACE CANNOT BE EARNED (rightiousness by faith). You somehow think that I believe that I am saved by my works or by obeying the law. How on earth did you ever make such an error in judgement? No, I believe. I have faith that Christ is my savior. Guess what? I am now under even more of an obligation to obey.
Romans 6 King James Version (KJV)
1: What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
16 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?
BTW MHGinTN, being under the law = being under the condemnation of the law. That law is NOT the commandments. That law is the ceremonial/sacrificial law. Again, I will go into that later. God’s commandments stand until the end of this sinful earth.
Matthew 5:
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
It is clearly stated in the bible that if you receive the mark of the beast you will not be in heaven (so why would God give the church this warning if everyone’s going to raptured out before it comes into effect???) God’s people are sealed and the beast has his mark. I’d say it pretty important to know what’s what, right? So, I’m still asking that MGHinTN please tell us from the bible what the mark of the beast is. Maybe Metmom can help him?
I’ll have a couple of article coming your way with CLEAR biblical scripture. And again, I mean no offense to anyone. I present it all in the spirit of Christian communion. At least you will know what I think.
Romans 2:16. “In the day when God shall judge the secrets according to my gospel.”
What is that gospel?
BTW, the mark of the beast has EVERYTHING to do with God’s law. When that time comes every human will have to make a choice and they will receive it either in their foreheads (they know what the truth is and they reject it anyway) or in their hands (they go along with it because they don’t want to deal with the hassle and persecution that’s going to happen to those don’t have the mark, perpetrated by those who do).
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