MORE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS…. Youve surely heard some of these questions before: Are you saved ?, Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior?, Are you a Christian?, Do you have a personal relationship with God?, Are you born again?, Are you going to Heaven?. . . . But what do these things really mean and just what exactly are people saying when they ask you these things? Sometimes Christians can be a little overzealous when they share Gods truth with others (called witnessing). Many times they neglect to fully explain just exactly what it means to be saved or not saved. They are often quick to state: Youre going to Hell if you aint saved, but what good does it do to tell someone that, if they dont even know for sure what being saved means? This short Bible study will endeavor to put into words, belay some fears, and clear up some confusion about what Gods Word says about salvation, forgiveness, and the eternity in Heaven. For God loves all His children the same, even the ones that dont yet know or accept Him or His Son Jesus Christ. Yes God loves us all alike, He is more pleased with some that with others but even those that deny Him still have His love. God may not like what some of us are doing, but He still loves us all and it is His desire that each and every one of His children overcome, attain salvation, and not perish in the Lake of Fire (Hell): Matt 18:14 (Jesus speaking) 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish. (KJV) We are all Gods children, he created our souls, and He is our Heavenly Father whether we acknowledge Him or not. God even created satan, the most evil entity in the universe. God created everything and everyone. Satan however has forfeited his place in the eternity with God, and as it is written satan will be cast into the Lake of Fire [Revelation 20:10]. Way back in the Old Testament days, the people were instructed to sacrifice animals to God as an atonement for their sins, were-by through the death of the sacrificial animal, the people would be spared the eternal death of their soul in Hell. But then in the New Testament (New Covenant) God changed that, He made a more perfect way. God sent His only begotten Son (virgin birth) , Jesus Christ, to come to this earth, whom was Himself born as a baby of woman just like we were, who lived 33 years as a flesh man without committing not even one sin; and then He died on the cross for every sin that every person on the entire planet could ever and would ever possibly commit, from the first days to the last days of this world for those whom believe upon Him and ASK for forgiveness. And after three days dead in the tomb, Jesus Christ rose on that third day from the dead and ascended to the right hand of God in Heaven where He remains to this day. When Jesus arose from the dead He had defeated death {Heb 2:14}, He defeated death for us whom believe. Because of what Jesus did, the eternal death of a soul in the Lake of Fire has no power at all over those who simply believe that God had Jesus to do it for us. Heb 2:9-18 9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. 10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, 12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee {Ps 22:22}. 13 And again, I will put my trust in him {2nd Sam 22:3}. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me {Isa 8:18}. 14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. 17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted. (KJV) You see, there are two deaths, there are two bodies with each of us, the flesh body that we can see and the spiritual body within - our very soul so to speak; the first death is the death of the body (flesh) , but the other death is far more important. The second death is the death of a soul, and it is eternal. We all die in the flesh, and they bury our flesh body, but our soul (spiritual body) goes immediately back to our Heavenly Father upon the instant of our death. There we await the Final Judgment Day, and those who have not overcome will then be cast into the Lake of Fire (Hell) to be nevermore, but those who do overcome will go on to spend the eternity in Heaven with God, Jesus, and all the others who overcame. 1 Cor 15:44 (the two bodies, flesh and spirit) 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. (KJV) So when they say we are saved, they are saying that we are saved from the second death, that meaning: saved from the death of our souls in the Lake of Fire (Hell). And when they say born again what they are really saying is: born from above. It means to have eternal life from God enter your spiritual body, it means that your soul can live for ever and not perish in the Lake of Fire. Jesus explains this to a Jewish priest in the below scripture. This Jewish priest was a good man who believed upon Jesus. This priest even risked excommunication by coming to speak with Jesus, that is why he came to Jesus by night, in those days no one traveled by night. The high Jewish priest at that time forbade any to come to Jesus; this man had faith to risk it all! Below, we see the man call Jesus Rabbi, this simply means teacher in Hebrew and it is an address of respect: John 3:1-7 1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God [Heaven]. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mothers womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. (KJV) Born again, what does it mean? We are all born from a sac of water (Amniotic Fluid) in our mothers womb, this is the first birth, the birth through the water (and while Baptism is indeed important and Jesus did command us to so be, it is not the subject being spoken of in this particular Scripture). But we must also be born into the Kingdom of God through Jesus Christ to attain eternal life in Heaven. This is the second birth, the birth through the Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ. The second birth is spiritual and we have that choice unlike the choice of being born from our mothers womb. And once we are born spiritually through belief in Christ into the Kingdom of God (Heaven), then the second death (eternal death) has no power over us. For you remember that Jesus defeated that death on the cross for all who would believe upon Him. In other words, when you reach out to Jesus Christ and believe that He is the only Begotten Son of God who died and rose again and is in Heaven with God, then He spreads His cloak of protection over your very soul, and God honors that because He said He would. What does it mean to be a Christian? Being a Christian means you believe in Christ. It does not mean you are some kind of saint. We all sin, every single human being sins to some degree, some more than others. The difference is that being a Christian means that you know that your sins are forgiven, after you repent for each one, through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that day on the cross. In the scripture below, Apostle Paul is speaking about forgiveness of sin through faith in Jesus Christ. The word propitiation means payment for sin. Jesus Christ was that propitiation, Jesus Christ dies that we may live, Jesus Christ is the only door to salvation through His suffering and by the grace of our Lord God to us whom would simply believe. Rom 3:23-26 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. (KJV) You see, God knew that man could never make it on his own, that is why He sent Jesus to stand in the gap for us. We have used the term believe in Christ many times in this study, but what exactly does that mean? In the beginning a new Christian is a little unsure of himself, he is a little unsure of his faith. This is normal and it is OK. As you study more of Gods Written Word, His letter to you, the Bible, your faith grows. When you study the Bible and ask God to help you understand and increase your faith, He sends His Spirit upon you, the Holy Spirit, and a feeling of assuredness comes into you soul. This is the second birth, it is your spiritual body blossoming with truth. The more you study Gods Word the more you grow spiritually. Its like a little seed when it is watered it grows, but when you cut the water off it shrivels and dies. The spiritual water that you pour on your soul is the True Word of God, it is the knowledge of Jesus Christ and all things God has shown us through the Bible. You gain that knowledge by reading of it in the book that God ensured we would always have - The Bible. Jesus is called the Living Water, for through Him a dormant seed grows into a mighty one of faith. That seed is your soul. John 4:5-26 (Jesus is the Living Water) 5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacobs well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. 7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. 8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) 9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. 11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? 12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? 13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. 15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. 16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. 17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: 18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. 19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. 26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. (KJV) Jesus would go on to use that woman to convert her whole village to Christianity while she was yet in sin. (though it wasnt yet called Christianity till after Christs death). And Jesus died on the cross for us though we were yet in sin. God wants us all to come to Him, God wants us all to be saved and spend the eternity with Him in Heaven. Man complicates Gods Word, heaps all kinds of traditions on it, but Jesus makes it simple. God is not sitting up there in Heaven just waiting to zap some poor soul to Hell, if He had wanted that, He would not have sent us Jesus. read the verse below in the simplicity that is Christ: John 3:16-18 (Jesus speaking of Himself) 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 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. (KJV) How do become among the saved? So how do you become saved? Thats the easiest thing in the world, even a child can do it, and it doesnt cost a thing. That does not mean it is cheap however, for Jesus paid a mighty and dear price for you to have the way to salvation and eternal life open to you! John 14:6 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (KJV) Just pray to God somewhere alone, and tell Him that you want the everlasting life that He promised all whom believe upon Jesus. Tell Him that you are a new believer and that you want Him to pour out the Living Water upon your soul. Ask Him to help you more fully understand His perfect plan and to help mature the small seed of faith that is growing within you. He will, He promised that He would. And God, from the foundation of the world, made it impossible that He could lie: Heb 6:13-20 (Apostle Paul speaking) 13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, 14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. 17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: 18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: 19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; 20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. (KJV) And when you pray you dont have to kneel down or lay on your face, get comfortable and just talk to Him like He was your father, for He is your Father, He is your Heavenly Father who created your very soul. When you pray, you always pray to the God, and after the prayer you tell God that you ask these things, or give this thanks... in the name of Jesus Christ. That documents that you are a believer in the only begotten Son of God, Savior, Jesus Christ. And in the name of Jesus Christ ask God to forgive your sins. God knows all your sins, He can read your mind, but when you repent of the sin, He promises to remember it no more - It is blotted out of the book, it is blotted out of the book that you shall be judged from on Judgment day when we all (believers and non-believers alike) individually stand before God and give account of our lives {Rev 20:11-15}. Heb 10:10-20 10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. 14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. 15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, 16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; 17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. 18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. 19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; (KJV) How do you repent? Repentance means to have a change of heart (a change of intentions), it does not mean that you are going to be perfect after it, it means that you are sorry that you did something that you know God didnt want you to do. And it means that you will try harder the next time. But if you should mess up and do it again, then you ask for forgiveness again. You will find that in time you will actually start sinning less and less. But you will never be perfect, for none was perfect in the flesh but Jesus Christ only. And once you repent and ask forgiveness for a particular sin, dont ask to be forgiven again for that same incident, because God forgave it the first time you asked, and asking again means you didnt believe that He forgave it the first time. The blood of Christ on the cross is able and worthy to wash all sins away. We could never be worthy ourselves, that is why Jesus did what He did for us, He alone was worthy, and through Him we stand approved unto God. We are not forgiven on our own account or because we were ever able to make up for the sin through our own merits, but rather on account of Jesus Christ who though being perfect died the death of the guilty that the guilty could be spared. That my friend is true love! When you repent, it is acceptable and advised to state your sins to God IN PRIVATE and then ask Him to also forgive the sins that you may have forgotten, He understands. Always be honest with God, he knows what you have done, He was there when you did it, He is everywhere and He has seen it all. I know many of you may have heard that you have to confess your sins to some man some preist, but that is not true, nor is it stated anywhere in the Bible that you must repent your sins through a man. Man cannot forgive sin, he would beter spend his time repenting for his own sins. How do you pray? Jesus set the example for us when He told us how to pray in [Matt 6:9-13]. Jesus told us to go directly to God ourselves, He even left out praying to Him, or even asking Him for forgiveness, much less a priest. Observe the first line in the only specific prayer Jesus told us to pray. This prayer is called the: Our Father, and it is to be one-on-one between you and your Heavenly Father, although it is OK to pray along with your friends and loved ones, but always praying to God Himself: Matt 6:5-15 (Jesus speaking) 5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. 9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. 14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (KJV) A note on the divisions within Christianity Christians do not always agree on every little doctrinal thing, this can be confusing to a new believer, but you can find comfort and strength in the fact that each and every single Christian alive, or who has ever lived, or who will ever live, agrees on the one immutable fact below. Because it is the belief in that single fact which makes them a Christian in the first place: Rom 5:8-9 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. (KJV) God bless you my friend, and it is my heartfelt prayer that God touches your heart and leads you on that path towards Him that has no end. We at Watchmen Bible Study Group hope that you will continue to study with us. Maybe you could sign our guest book and even post a question perhaps. Either way, God bless you, your loved ones, and your understanding of our Heavenly Fathers Written Word, The Bible; This we ask in the Precious and Powerful name of Jesus Christ, our Savior. May we muse with Apostle Paul as he speaks of the love and forgiveness that is in Christ Jesus: 1 Tim 1:12-17 (Apostle Paul speaking) 12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry; 13 Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. 14 And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. 16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. 17 Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. (KJV) AMEN! AMEN! And if you need prayer lease ask we will love to pray with you! God Bless you and we love you!
Posted on: Wed, 19 Feb 2014 07:51:51 +0000
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