Random Thoughts on the Really Good News

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you... I will save you from all your uncleanness... I want you to know that I am NOT doing this for your sake... I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it." (Ezekiel 36:26-36) The above was written to Israel who was promised a New Covenant where God would save them by his GRACE after they learned they could not save themselves by doing the WORKS required in the Old Covenant.  God saves ALL people the same way…by His Grace. When he gives us the FAITH to realize we have been saved, our hearts are "established"  by His grace, and we experience the peace and joy of the salvation freely given us by GOD through CHRIST JESUS.  "…it is good that the heart be established by GRACE." (Hebrews 13:9) Salvation does not follow good works…but what tends to follow the realization of our Salvation is good works done in appreciation to God. "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of you

The Cross of Jesus Christ. What should I do with it or because of it? What can I do to receive its benefits or be worthy of its glory? Wrong questions. Jesus was not crucified to get people to Do anything. It happened for our sin, and because we are included in what happened, there is nothing left for sinners to DO, despite what you may hear otherwise. “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So, I live in this earthly body by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.” (Galatians 2:20) You do not have to crucify yourself or keep the law – you were "crucified with Christ" . And it was done for you whether you like it or not, whether you believe it or not, or whether you accept it or not. Nothing you can do will change what has already happened. I

"For by GRACE are you saved..." (Ephesians 2:8) “So then, as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous." (Romans 5:18-19) Is the sin of men greater than the grace of God? Christianity seems to think so. They teach that the one sin of Adam put all men under "condemnation" , yet deny that the "one act of righteousness" done by Jesus resulted in the "justification of life to all men" . Doing so denies the very gospel Christianity is claiming to evangelize it seems to me. Again, what does the Bible say above? It says that "all men" who received "condemnation" are the same "all men” who received "justification of life" . When you read all of Romans Ch

"Do you suppose, O man…that you will escape the judgment of God?” (Romans 2:3) Paul is talking to everyone here, both believers and unbelievers. So, what judgment is he talking about that they will not escape? The Scripture says that the judgment of God on sinners is death. "For the wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23a) The only reason we are not dead yet is His "kindness, tolerance and patience." "Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4) Understanding and acknowledging this "kindness of God" leads us to repentance in this present age. Repentance includes thinking differently about God. To think of Him as our Father who loves us and provides the final sacrifice for our sin. In Old Testament times, God laid all the sin of Israel upon a sacrificial animal once a year on the Day of Atonement, which cleansed them all from

"The wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord...For it is by GRACE you have been SAVED through FAITH, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift from God..." (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:8) Being "SAVED" refers to what happens to people after they die.   Jesus, the Son of God, became a  mortal man to SAVE the world.  So  Jesus  died as the "wages" for our sins (since he had none of his own) and was buried.  Yet three days and nights later God raised him to immortal life.  This salvation from death was a "gift from God"  his Father, God's righteous reward for one sinless life sacrificed to save "all" sinners, not just a few. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are JUSTIFIED FREELY by His GRACE through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus"  (Romans 3:23-24) The Greek word for  "JUSTIFIED"  is "dikaioo" and literally means &qu

"...so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His GRACE in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:7) Because the salvation of a sinner is by the GRACE of God, good works can have no part in their salvation. "And since it is through God's kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God's grace would not be what it really is--free and undeserved." (Romans 11:6 NLT) Yep, "free and underserved" , a "gift" from God. "For by Grace are you saved...the free gift of God is eternal life..." (Ephesians 2:8; Romans 6:23)

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of tresspasses, according to the riches of his GRACE that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding." (Ephesians 1:7-8) What Jesus did brought "redemption" to mankind and our sins are now forgiven.  What he did was to shed his blood for our sins. And his motivation was simply "the riches of his GRACE" - his unmerited favor toward mankind.  He has "committed to us" this "word of reconciliation" ... “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. He made him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” (2 Corinthians 5:19-21) The whole world is reconciled to God and the righteousness of Christ is now ours, and because of "His great love for us" God will resurrect and transform us from the status

Is your faith in the "wise men" of your particular religious faith? And when what they say does not seem right are you reluctant to speak about it among your family and friends?  An example of this from my experience comes from wise men in my church who teach that Romans 10:9-10 tells us what we must do to be saved. They even label it the "Roman road to salvation": "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Romans 10:9-10 KJV) Assuming that the above is what one must do to be saved, here are two questions I asked myself: 1. If one must confess with their mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in their heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, can anyone who died prior to the death and resurrection of Jesus be saved? 2. Can a ch

"So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God...For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad." (Romans 14:12; 2 Corinthians 5:10) The above is scary enough to curb some peoples actions. Even those faithful to their particular religion are scared because none of us are perfect. Especially when taught that if you are not really, really saved, off to hell you go into eternal conscience torment for even one unrepented sin. Even the most holy people wonder whether they are really saved, so their evangelists use  "damnable doctrines"  to get some folks Scared Straight and back to the religious assembly.  And it works sometimes...for about a month or so.  A.E. Knoch (1874-1965) once said in his work, Solid Comfort for the Bereaved: "Men have corrupted God's holy Word. The Bible has been mistranslated to agree with the damnable d

"GRACE is better than silver and gold. The rich and the poor have a common bond, the LORD is the maker of them all." (Proverbs 22:1-2) Religions have this common. Each seem to think that what separates them from sinners is their membership in their religion. However no one escapes death which is the judgment of God on sin. Mankind is linked to each other by sin and its ultimate penalty. God created us that way so He could demonstrate His "MERCY TO ALL" . ”For God has shut up all in disobedience so that He may show MERCY TO ALL. Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! ...For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever." (Romans 11:32-36) Mankind is not only linked to each other, we are also linked to God by the fact that He is "the maker of them all" . In other words he is our "Father" . "There is one body

"...ungodly persons who turn the GRACE of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." (Jude 1:4) These "ungodly persons" were the Jewish religious leaders of Israel who apparently had embraced Jesus as the Messiah but were denying that his death, burial and resurrection was the "atoning sacrifice" for the sins of all Israel and the "whole world" . "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins (Israel) , and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world...a gift by His GRACE through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. God presented him as an atoning sacrifice..." (1 John 2:2; Romans 3:24-25) These "ungodly men" ridiculed those Jewish believers who trusted solely in the "GRACE of our God" for salvation, apart from the works of the Law. They preferred the Conditional Salvation provided under the Law of Moses.  In denying salvation by grace alone, these religious me

"For you know the GRACE of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich." (2 Corinthians 8:9) God wants us to "know" about His Grace. Grace is what sinful people need and what God provides them as a "gift" . “For by Grace you are saved…and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8) God loves His "enemies" and is "gracious" to those who are "ungrateful and evil" .  "But love your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is gracious to the ungrateful and evil." (Luke 3:35) God would like for us to love our enemies - but we don't...only God does!  We want to argue with our enemies or worse. That is the norm in this age, for we just cannot measure up to God in character.  However, we should not bring our

"To me, the very least of all saints, this GRACE was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Messiah..." (Ephesians 3:8) I agree with Paul. The "riches of Messiah" are truly "unfathomable" . It was his privilege to preach to Gentiles in places where it had never been heard. "My goal was to spread the Good News where the name of Messiah was not known." (Romans 15:20) He did so "all over the world" and in his final letter to Timothy he states that he  "had kept the faith" and his job was "finished" ... "The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it...the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." (Colossians 1:23; 2 Timothy 4:6-7) So was preaching such good news a resounding success - apparently not for he also says at the beginning of that

"Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth..." (Colossians 3:2) Do so without getting lost in the thoughts and actions of religious men! Remember the "grace" of God revealed to us through the Messiah, who will save and reconcile all mankind to God and each other. While we wait for the return of the Messiah and the peace of that final salvation and reconciliation, we will be wise to draw strength from, and be "content" in our "Messiah" ... "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content...I can do all things through Messiah who strengthens me." (Philllipians 4:11-14) And as we set our minds on the "things above" and "the grace of our God" we should thankfully heed the instruction of His "grace" ... "...the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously a