I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.
John 10: 28
The whole question of salvation is both important and a bit complicated at times. What we know about salvation is that it is of God. It is His act of grace giving forgiveness to those who do not deserve it because of sin that He is totally opposed to. Mankind, on their own merit, can not save themselves. Even the high priests of Jewish tradition could not provide lasting forgiveness in an imperfect system of sacrificial rites.
Since it is an act of God, God must be the primary player in reaching out, as it were, to bring in the sinner with the message of the Gospel, a message that provides new life through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ in His short time here on earth. Does this offer go out to all? Well the Great Commission doesn't seem to suggest that Christians should only spread the Good News to those God has predestined for salvation.
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11: 28-30
The words of Jesus seem to be an open call to all who would believe. So here is where the title of this blog seems to me to come into play. Once the call is made, once the offer is on the table, a person must accept it or reject it. If I have the ability to accept and believe this wonderful eternal gift than I must also have the ability to reject its promise. It is an eternal rejection; or is it?
God, it seems to me, throughout the Bible and particularly in the Old Testament, is long suffering and patient, willing to wait upon those He loves, willing to accept repentance and return His people to blessing. In fact, He is so patient and steadfast in His love, that it really is almost beyond amazing. It is obvious, at least in my thinking, that God wants to come to reconciliation with His created, wants to accept them into His family.
Now then, what of those who are saved and then reject Christ as savior and Lord? Obviously, there is great eternal danger in such a decision. However, it would seem that even then, God is a God who forgives, regathers and loves even those who, having given up their salvation, come to realize their error and repent from their heart.
It takes an Amazing God and it takes a decision that is forever.
Praise this wonderful God!
Showing posts with label forgiveness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label forgiveness. Show all posts
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Celestial celebration over you
" I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over
one sinner who repents." Luke 15
There are three wonderful, consecutive parables in the Gospel of Luke that
I will call "recovery" parables. In each, something of value as either been lost
or has walked away. Each of these items, a lost sheep, a stone and the prodigal
son has a great value to the one who has lost it. In each case, the return of
the item causes great celebration over its recovery.
In a very real way, each of us is a lost sheep. Sheep are animals that do
not do so well on their own. They have the tendency to become lost, disoriented,
weak; they are subject to disease, poison plants, predators, and without
their shepherd, can be in such trouble that even death can result. We were
lost in sin, blind to out situations and dead to sinfulness before we were
recovered by our Lord Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd. Our chances of
being saved, of being seen as righteous before a Holy God, of being able to stand in His presence, were zero.
Like the prodigal son, we had turned our backs on God determined to strike
out on our own, taking an eternal inheritance and squandering it in our pride
and self-assurance. Our situations, like his, were not what we had imagined they
would become. Like the father in the parable, God has welcomed us back,
even to the point of celebration over our recovery as one valuable to the
Living God. Through He is totally against sin, He has compassion and
love for His created and a willingness to reach out, hoping that we will
respond.
The Day of the Lord is at hand when all will stand judgement; yet, He waits
until the exact right time, hoping that as many as possible will hear the voice
of the shepherd and respond in repentance and belief.
What a wonderful awesome God He is!
one sinner who repents." Luke 15
There are three wonderful, consecutive parables in the Gospel of Luke that
I will call "recovery" parables. In each, something of value as either been lost
or has walked away. Each of these items, a lost sheep, a stone and the prodigal
son has a great value to the one who has lost it. In each case, the return of
the item causes great celebration over its recovery.
In a very real way, each of us is a lost sheep. Sheep are animals that do
not do so well on their own. They have the tendency to become lost, disoriented,
weak; they are subject to disease, poison plants, predators, and without
their shepherd, can be in such trouble that even death can result. We were
lost in sin, blind to out situations and dead to sinfulness before we were
recovered by our Lord Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd. Our chances of
being saved, of being seen as righteous before a Holy God, of being able to stand in His presence, were zero.
Like the prodigal son, we had turned our backs on God determined to strike
out on our own, taking an eternal inheritance and squandering it in our pride
and self-assurance. Our situations, like his, were not what we had imagined they
would become. Like the father in the parable, God has welcomed us back,
even to the point of celebration over our recovery as one valuable to the
Living God. Through He is totally against sin, He has compassion and
love for His created and a willingness to reach out, hoping that we will
respond.
The Day of the Lord is at hand when all will stand judgement; yet, He waits
until the exact right time, hoping that as many as possible will hear the voice
of the shepherd and respond in repentance and belief.
What a wonderful awesome God He is!
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Forgiven for how long?
Micah
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
Guilty. It's a common feeling when we, as Christians, come to the realization that
we are sinners. Before coming to Christ, we may have been conveniently unaware of
the degree or frequency of our sins, yet once we have been justified, we still will sin.
I believe that it is quite important to come to grips with the nature of this 'forgiveness'
given through the grace of God and the sacrifice on the cross of The Son of God.
Is this forgiveness conditional? No, the forgiveness is not conditional.
Is this forgiveness temporary? No, it is not temporary.
Is this forgiveness earned? No, we did nothing to deserve this gift of forgiveness.
Is this forgiveness one that can be removed? No, there will be no removal. Once and
for ever.
Why then, will we not simply allow this free gift of forgiveness for sinners who still
sin to cause us to simply sin more? The answer, quite simply, in a word, is Jesus. He
is not about to allow us to continue our paths without a regeneration of the heart,
a movement toward sanctification. He has gathered us to Him and He has the absolute
power to maintain us and grow us in righteousness. You can take that the bank!~!
1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
That feeling of guilt comes upon us when God the Holy Spirit reminds us that we
have sinned. He is our counselor and He will not fail to grow our recognition of sin
and our desire to avoid and combat our sinful tendencies. We are in His good and
capable hands.... forever!
Praise God!
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
Guilty. It's a common feeling when we, as Christians, come to the realization that
we are sinners. Before coming to Christ, we may have been conveniently unaware of
the degree or frequency of our sins, yet once we have been justified, we still will sin.
I believe that it is quite important to come to grips with the nature of this 'forgiveness'
given through the grace of God and the sacrifice on the cross of The Son of God.
Is this forgiveness conditional? No, the forgiveness is not conditional.
Is this forgiveness temporary? No, it is not temporary.
Is this forgiveness earned? No, we did nothing to deserve this gift of forgiveness.
Is this forgiveness one that can be removed? No, there will be no removal. Once and
for ever.
Why then, will we not simply allow this free gift of forgiveness for sinners who still
sin to cause us to simply sin more? The answer, quite simply, in a word, is Jesus. He
is not about to allow us to continue our paths without a regeneration of the heart,
a movement toward sanctification. He has gathered us to Him and He has the absolute
power to maintain us and grow us in righteousness. You can take that the bank!~!
1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 2:1
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.Hebrews 10:17
Then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”That feeling of guilt comes upon us when God the Holy Spirit reminds us that we
have sinned. He is our counselor and He will not fail to grow our recognition of sin
and our desire to avoid and combat our sinful tendencies. We are in His good and
capable hands.... forever!
Praise God!
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