REFRAINING FROM ABSTRACT TEACHINGS AND PREACHING ON SALVATION: Salvation as a topical issue should never be gambled with; as its the chore of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Most notable men of God and preachers abstractly tell their congregation, You cannot earn your way to heaven. Some say, Salvation is a gift of God; nothing you do can add to, or earn you salvation. God saved us whilst we were yet sinners. All the above are true scriptures. Scriptures even go further to say that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; and also our righteousness is like filthy rags in the sight of God. Now, even though the above are true, their real meanings are latent, hidden or obscured. If you abstractly repeat them without explaining to the congregation or masses the true meaning and implications, you deliberately or ignorantly mislead them into complacency and a false sense of hope which will lead them to hell. You defeat your own purpose and good intentions out of ignorance and thereby convert TRUTH into FALSEHOOD. These abstract teachings led an unbeliever to conclude that salvation is not even remotely behavior-based in almost every single christian sect. What then is Christianity if not Christlike behavior.. Youre righteous when you do what is right and good out of love in the sight of God. The opposite is sin or wickedness which makes you an enemy of God. The Apostle, Peter, admits in 2 Peter 3;15-16 that some of Apostle Pauls teachings are difficult to understand. So always align his teachings with those of Christs teachings for consistency if confused on the issue of SALVATION. What do the above misleading statements really mean then? You see, unlike Jesus, no one is without sin; and no one loves God supremely. The law demanded a 100% adherence, which was impossible for any human to keep.. Even breaking a small command (such as lying, cursing, gossiping, hating or coveting, malice or anger, and even jeering at someone disqualied us from heaven. James 2:10 says, :For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble on one point, he is guilty of all. Our wages therefore is death, eternal separation from God, which is hell. A sin like anger may not be serious to you but very detestable to God. James 1:20 says: because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God deserves. These seemingly petty sins and many more we may not even be aware of, or have no control over, that we commit unknowingly and ignorantly on a daily basis are the reasons why our righteousness is like filthy rags before God; they are the reasons why all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are the reasons why we can not earn our way to heaven on our own; they are the reasons why God saved us whilst we were yet sinners, for, you need first to repent of your willful sins before salvation; Theres therefore no way our righteousness could be enough on our own, to be acceptable to God to earn us salvation or eternity with Him. No matter how hard we try to be righteous, we shall always fall short; it will never be enough. We are offsprings of Adam and Eve, born into sin. This in a nutshell is what the various regularly misquoted scriptures mean.. But luckly, God has given us a way out through Jesus Christ as the perfecter of our righteousness unto holiness; a level acceptable to God. The Bible says the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ, we have righteousness and holiness. Jesus took the punishment for sin when He died on the cross. God made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.The heaven and the new earth that were hoping to enter is the dwelling place of righteousness. 2 Peter 3:13, so without righteousness we will never enter. When we repent of our sins by accepting and obeying Jesus Christs Commands and teachings, we receive forgiveness, and His blood cleanses us of all our past sins; and it will continue to cleanse the sins we commit ignorantly till death; our salvation is therefore packaged and sealed till the day of redemption. In Heb.10;26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left. If you continue to sin willingly after sanctification from your past sins, you have actually crucified Christ the second time. Heb. 10:29 paints even a more gloomy picture; how much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the SON OF GOD UNDERFOOT, who has treated as an UNHOLY THING the BLOOD OF THE COVENANT that SANCTIFIED them, and who has INSULTED the SPIRIT OF GRACE. Beloved, in the old covenant where the blood sacrifices of animals were required as atonement for sins; the animal blood only atoned for the sins they committed ignorantly but not willingly or deliberately.. Heb. 9:27 says; But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for HIMSELF and for the SINS THE PEOPLE had committed in IGNORANCE. Please let the people know the truth as stipulated in scripture that they can only continue to benifit from the precious blood of Jesus after initial sanctification if they wholeheartedly try, to the best of their ability, live a righteous and holy life; the blood of Jesus is very precious, not cheap at all. 1 John 1:7; But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the BLOOD OF JESUS, His Son, purifies us from all sin. Here, its saying that once we play our part to try and live in holiness, every sin we commit IGNORANTLY will be cleansed by the blood of Jesus. Despite what you may hold to the contrary, the bible says in 1 John 5:16 that wilful sin lead to death, eternal damnation. 1 Cor. 6:9-11 says, Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not enter into the kingdom of God? Jesus Christ even raised the standard higher and quantified the requirement for eternity with Him by saying in Matth. 5:20; For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will CERTAINLY NOT ENTER the kingdom of heaven. What else do you need to convince yourself of the gospel of Jesus as regards salvation? God protected Noah because he was a preacher of righteousness, 2 Peter 2:5; Lot was rescued because of righteousness, 2 Peter 2:9; God did not spare even the angels when they sinned. What about Abraham ? In verse 9; God will hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgement. Jesus Christ Himself was exalted because of righteousness. Heb. 1:9; You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by annointing you with the oil of joy. Now, ask yourself this question; By what measure is Jesus going to annoint me with the oil of joy? Righteousness/Holiness is the KEY to SALVATION, so, embrace and preach it day and night. That is what the masses need to hear but not what will make them feel good about themselves or want to hear. We do not seek to please men but God. If you still dont get it, then read Heb. 5:13; Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. Revise your notes, eschew pride and listen to Master Jesus. Let us mature in Christ Jesus, walk the talk, let righteousness be our breastplate and allow Jesus Christ to perfect us all into RIGHTEOUSNESS and HOLINESS, so He will not be ashamed to call us brothers and sisters in the same family. May the Power of God, the Spirit of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit help us be Christians in deed as we eagerly await the second coming of Christ, in Jesus name, amen.
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 19:00:20 +0000
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