Random Thoughts on the Really Good News

“All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor.” (1 Corinthians 10:23-24) “Abstain from every form of evil” (I Thessalonians 5:22) “…to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” (James 4:17) “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 8:21) Sin no longer condemns us, Christ has overcome the penalty for sin by his resurrection to perfection...and he will do that for all in God's timing. The above Scripture is not warning of the penalty for sin. All sin has been atoned for at the cross and Christ has set us free from the law and we are FREE... "It was for freedom Christ set us free....He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (Galatians 5:1; 1 John 2:2) HOWEVER, we still have to live out our appointed time in this “present evil age” , a

"Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which translated means, God with us...and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:23; 21) "And she gave birth to her firstborn son...good news of great joy...for all the people; ...in the city of David there has been born...a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:7-12) "...the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10) "...all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23) "...the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord..." (Romans 6:23) "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him." (John

“He’s making a list and checking it twice, he’s gonna find out who’s naughty or nice...you better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I’m telling you why, Santa Claus is comin’ to town.” (John Haven Coots and Haven Gillespie) I love the songs and the whole story of Santa Claus, and I love watching kids relate to him and write letters assuring him they have been good. I have no problem with that fairy tale and do my best to keep my Grandkids from finding out who he really is, or isn’t, for as long as possible. However, sometimes I wonder if our ideas about God come more from fairy tales than the Bible. If you’re good you will be blessed and go to heaven, but if you’re bad…look out because Jesus is coming back to town. At least w ith good old Saint Nick, bad children only get a lump of coal and a Ho Ho Ho, while the angry God of old Saint Religion sends bad children to be coal for an eternal fire - Ho Ho Horrible! Anyway, enjoy the fun of Santa Claus this Christma

"Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for ALL THE PEOPLE; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 210-11) We may best say that if the divine interference is absolutely necessary to the salvation of any creature, it must also be necessary for every creature. The fact that He does save one of his creatures is conclusive proof that He in time will save all of them because if He saves some and not others, a few and not all, the Scriptures which HE inspired would be nothing more than a lying mockery and deceit. God is no respecter of persons. Alan Burns (-1929) Faith Fellowship Magazine Volume 58, Number 1

“I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create EVIL: I the LORD do all these” (Isaiah 45:7) The great barrier to belief in God, and especially to a loving God, is the presence of evil in the world. Quite frankly, I do not blame people for rejecting God or at least rejecting the idea of a God who really cares about people. And I am confident God does not blame them either. The Bible, read in its entirety, can help us understand evil, but few have read or even had opportunity to read it. After all, the printed Bible was not made available to the public at large until recent times. So why, if there is a God, did He create evil and why does He continue to allow it to prosper?                                 וְנָתַ֣תִּי אֶת־לִבִּ֗י לִדְרֹ֤ושׁ וְלָתוּר֙ בַּֽחָכְמָ֔ה עַ֛ל כָּל־אֲשֶׁ֥ר נַעֲשָׂ֖ה תַּ֣חַת הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם ה֣וּא׀ עִנְין The above Hebrew is translated in the Concordant Version of the Bible as follows: “I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom conce

“...set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things....When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”  (Colossians 3:1-4). Glory is mankind's final destiny. And we do not have it now except in the form of the promise of God.  It is our hope... “…We... rejoice in hope of the glory of God”  (Romans 5:2). And Glory comes with our resurrection... “…Sown in dishonor… raised in glory…”   (I Corinthians 15:42-43a). In this life we experience suffering from time to time but we can cope with the suffering when we "set our minds on the things above, not on earthly things" - "in hope of the glory of God" to follow... “…The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be…”  (Romans 8:18). As we celebrate Jesus we should not focus simply on a baby in a manger but set our minds o

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the Throne of Grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).  Many among Christianity have made God’s thrown one of fierce judgment rather than Grace. And by judgment they mean an angry God pouring out His wrath on the sinner…and by wrath they mean casting them forever away from Him into a fiery furnace to be tortured forever.  But God says His throne is where we come and find Grace and Mercy, not condemnation and everlasting punishment.  It is not that God does not get angry, and that He never pours out his wrath on men. But His wrath ends in death which is the "wages of sin" . (Romans 6:23) The Scripture tells us that  "God is love"  (1 John 4:8) so even His wrath flows from Love and therefore must be remedial in purpose… and short lived. Surely He does such as he instructs us to do… “Be angry, yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger…” (Ephesians 4:26) B

"I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus" (1 Corinthians 1:4) Let’s be perfectly clear, the Grace we receive from God is FREE . We do not earn, accept, or reject it. The GRACE of God is ours as a FREE gift. We only learn of it “by Jesus Christ” . And we are SAVED by the grace of God, it is also FREE . And we only learn it is ours “through Jesus Christ” . “…the FREE GIFT of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23b NASB) I notice some translations leave out the word “free” but look at it in the original Greek and the idea of being free is there. These translators have a problem with "eternal life" being free. They also have a problem with salvation being free as a result of the "grace of God which is freely given you" . They prefer their own version which requires joining their group by accepting their offer of salvation with heaven the reward. They add words like

Paul declared… “I am crucified with Christ…” (Galatians 2:20) When Jesus hung on the cross it was a graphic declaration that death is the only path to GLORY, for himself and for all mankind. Got it? Sin, death, and the grave is the path to GLORY. Christ the first fruit, then all the rest of us… “Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep...Ought not Christ to have suffered these things (events of his death) and to enter into His GLORY (by his resurrection) ?...But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death , crowned with GLORY and honor" ...(1  Corinthians 15:20; Luke 24:26; Hebrews 2:9) It is the SPIRIT within us which longs to live, not die, and testifies to us “the sufferings of Christ and the GLORY that should follow” (1 Peter 1:11) There is NO path to GLORY among the present self -righteous religious institutions of men in this present age, moderate or radical. There

"...Sanctify them in the truth, Your Word is truth." (John 17:17) Truth is always truth whether people believe it or not.  I don't think it can be discovered and appreciated without thinking and reasoning about God and His Word. “Come let us reason together says the LORD, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow ” (Isaiah 1:18) I have reasoned that God is not just the creator, but the Father of mankind.  And He loves them in spite of their faults, and intends to make them into his image through death and resurrection. I reason that mankind must experience the death of the old mortal creation in order to appreciate the new creation to come, the abundant, immortal life which will be the  mirror image of God. Jesus was the first, all the rest of us will follow. God is lhe originator of truth. And truth regarding mankind, in a nutshell, is the good news that God in His grace intends to give mankind eternal life after death. But this truth cannot be

“…continue in the grace of God” (Acts 13:43) Whether you think that only those who believe the gospel in this life will be saved, or as I, believe that all will eventually be saved after their resurrection when they believe, one thing we should have in common. This salvation from death, this resurrection to immortal life….is purely and solely by the unmerited favor (grace) of God. We do not choose it, we cannot earn it, and we will not be rewarded with it because of any good works that we do. We first came to a knowledge of this unmerited favor by hearing the gospel of our salvation. We believed the good news, if at all, as a result of the gift of “faith” granted to us by the  "grace" of God … “…it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by GRA