Is Your Faith in the Grace Of God?

"...we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this GRACE in which we now stand." (Romans 5:1-2)

Sinners are standing in the "GRACE" of God, regardless of whether they presently know it or believe it. However, only by believing that we have been saved by Grace can we "access" the joy of this "GRACE in which we now stand". 

We do not "access" our salvation by faith but the joy in knowing of our salvation.  Again, we sinners are saved by the "GRACE" of God because of his "great love", whether we know it now or not. It is a gratuitous "gift"...

"But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved!…it is the gift of God..." (Ephesians 2:4-5, 8)

By "access" Paul is referring to how we enter into the knowledge of our salvation. That knowledge comes by "faith" which is simply believing what God has said to us, or done for us.  

Paul was "astonished" that some, now most, of those within the concentric circles of Christendom were "deserting" the gospel of grace of God to a gospel of works. If any work, even the work of faith, is required in your doctrine of salvation, it "is really no gospel at all"...

"I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the GRACE of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all." (Galatians 1:6-7)

This turning from the gospel of grace has been going on and perfected over the last 2000 years - I say again, any doctrine of salvation which requires works of any kind, is "no gospel at all". 

The gospel of grace that Jesus gave Paul to preach was good news for ALL sinners.  Returning to it is the only way to free ourselves from the bondage of religious tradition which has in the past and is now “destroying the word of God...” (Mark 7:13). 

"Access" the KNOWLEDGE of your salvation by faith...

"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free...” (John 8:32).

Destructive Heresies and Dead Radicals

About fake news from the liberal press...

"...there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies...these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories." (2 Peter 1:1-3)

The liberal news is bad enough but Islamic radicals take it to another level all in the name of their god.  But God, the real one, is not the god of religious terrorists...

"For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endures to all generations." (Psalm 100:5)

With the availability of the internet and open borders these terrorists can easily spread their "destructive heresies".  They are adept in using "fabricated stories" to fool and control young people.  They have no regard for the "truth" saying anything to gain or retain power. They deserve to go to hell in my view.

Nevertheless, they are to be reconciled to God like all sinners...so I do not believe God will eternally torment radical muslims in hell (or anybody else), that itself is a "destructive heresy" and "fabricated story"... 

"The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible...He is before all things, and in him all things hold together...God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." (Colossians 1:15-20)

So for the radical Islamic terrorists, I will have to be content with praying that the Lord will allow the Commander in Chief of the good old US Military to wipe those devils from this present earth...thus sending them to their reconciliation ASAP.

"Oorah"

If There Is A Hell

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth....This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe. Command and teach these things." (John 1:14; 1 Timothy 4:9-11)

If there is a hell where God casts unbelievers to be tortured forever, did God create it? And if He puts anyone there did He know He would put them there before he created them? Would you create a child knowing you were going to torture them forever? 

If God puts in hell only those who reject the "offer" of salvation from it, would it be better for "the heathen folks" if Missionaries did not make the offer at all?

If hell is real, how does that impact the issue of abortion? Which fetus has the best shot at not going there?  If there is a hell would it be better not to have children at all than to run the risk of them ending up there?

Just some questions that will not be discussed in your SS class this week...but should be.

If you still believe in hell as a place of eternal punishment after thinking about these questions then read and reread 1 Corinthians 13 until you understand what the bible means when it says "God is love". Then you can responsibly address those passages that translate the Hebrew and Greek words "sheol", "hades", "gehenna, and "tartarus" with the one English word "hell".

Only the gods of religion torture infidels (unbelievers) for eternity, they ALL teach it in some form or fashion. However, the "grace and truth" of the gospel of God through our Lord Jesus Christ is the good news of the salvation of sinners from death by means of the resurrection (as opposed to the "offer" of salvation from hell) and we are to share that gospel. 

So I am sharing it with you. Faith in it has set me free to experience the fruit of the spirit - love, joy, and peace. Thank you Lord God.

"God is love...Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails." (1 John 4:8; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

Law Reveals Sin - Grace Saves The Sinner

"Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor." (Galatians 3:24-25)

Paul says the Law (given to Israel through Moses) served as a tutor for the Jews until they are brought to Christ and are justified by believing that Jesus Christ is their Messiah.  Once they believe they no longer need the Law for it will have served its purpose.  

Although we Gentiles never were under the Law of Moses, we do observe from studying Israel that the Law of Moses, or obedience to church Creeds or Statements of Faith, can save or justify anyone.  It is only by the GRACE of God that anyone is saved, Jew or Gentile, believer or unbeliever.  

"... I do not nullify the GRACE of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly...^"So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God...There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 2:21; 3:26-28)

Soaring Above The Thorns

“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

The apostle Paul had a “thorn in his flesh” which was frustrating to him and he had petitioned the Lord three times to take it away.  The above is the answer from God to Paul’s petition. Paul was content with that answer…

“Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:10-11)

But I wonder how he could be content.  Maybe it was because Paul was a student of the Old Testament Scripture and found comfort in the words of Isaiah…

“Do you not know?  Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (Isaiah 40:28-31)

As I grow older, and the reality of my mortality sets in, I realize that all I have to trust in is my "hope in the Lord" that just as He will not leave me in the grave, but will call me and all my loved ones out, immortal and perfect, “to soar on wings like eagles” just as He did for our Lord Jesus Christ.

Useless and Divisive

Following is a paraphrase from an article I recently read which was interesting to me.

“The portions of religious Creeds and Statements of Faith which conform to the truth are useless. Why? Because what need is there of a creed or statement if we have the inspired writing in our hands. And religious creeds and statements of faith which do not conform exactly to the truth of the inspired writing only lead to confusion and division…which is rampant.”

So why do we have them?

Beats me...read the Bible.

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17)