Random Thoughts on the Really Good News

“Then Paul said to him, God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall…as for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!” (Acts 23:3; Galatians 5:12) Ouch! Paul had a temper and sometimes it just could not be contained. It was probably this “thorn in the flesh” that he pleaded with God to remove (as opposed to an eye problem that theologians like to speculate). Paul was tormented by his temper... “…there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9 KJV) Humans have to sin in order to need Grace and Mercy. Sooo - is it better to sin and be forgiven, than never to have sinned at all? "But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in...

"God is a consuming fire...Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, because His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, the LORD is my portion, therefore I will wait for him...it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD!'" (Hebrews 12:29; Lamentations 3:22-26). Mankind's only hope is in the great love and compassion of the Lord. We have His perfect Law but cannot keep it, bringing condemnation instead of blessing.  We do have the assurance in Scripture that although flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, God will still save us as a gift of His grace ... "...I declare unto you...that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God... It is by grace through faith you are saved, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God " (1 Corinthians 15:50;  Ephesians 2:8-10 ) Just as all descendants of Adam die, all will be "made alive" ... "...

"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel… they all shall know Me...For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." (Jeremiah 31:31, 33-34) This of course is a promise to ISRAEL. Remember them? They are the ones who delivered Jesus their Messiah to the Romans to be crucified. I cannot think of a greater sin than this. However, God says He will "forgive their iniquity" and their sin He will "remember no more" . "Father forgive them, they do not know what they doing" (Luke 23:34) Jesus said this from the cross and his request included both ISRAEL and the ROMAN empire who conspired together to crucify Jesus. Jesus asked God to forgive them because the cross was God's plan to save sinners. Christians think God is going to put them in hell and torture them forever unless they repented and accepted Jesus as their Savior before they died, because that i...

“You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him." (John 18:37-38) That mankind cannot be trusted to deal with this truth is quite obvious. Pilate found no fault with Jesus but had him crucified anyway.  What truth did Jesus come into the world to testify to? “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins…Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord….” (Ma...

“You will know the truth and the truth will set you free....According to the purpose of the One Who is operating ALL in accord with the counsel of His will” (John 8:32; Ephesians 1:11). God is in control of the universe and all of His creatures are in His care. He is guiding His creation across time from age to age - from the beginning when God was all there was, to the final destination where God is "All in All” of His creation. "For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn...then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death...so that God may be all in all." (1 Corinthians 15:26-29) Along the way to this grand destiny, God has subjected all of creation to "futility" .  None of us understand why He did so, but built somewhere deep inside is ...

"…a righteousness of God through Jesus Christ's faith, FOR all, and ON all who are believing, for there is no distinction...
” (Romans 3:21-22, CLNT) Some versions change "Jesus Christ's faith" to read “through faith in Christ Jesus” thus robbing us of the truth that righteousness, just like eternal life, is freely given sinners by the "GRACE" of God as the result of "JESUS CHRIST'S FAITH" . All will acknowledge Jesus at some point in time, and confess that he is Lord. "Therefore God exalted him to the highest place  and gave him the name that is above every name,  that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in  heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, t o the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:9-11) For most this comes after they have been resurrected.  Many say it is too late for justification at that time, but there is no Scripture to back that up, onl...

"... the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all." (Isa 53:5-6) Jesus is the only human who will ever live without sin...but he was tempted. "...for we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need...you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin." (Hebrews 4:15-16; 1 John 3:5) Jesus is the only human who has died, not for his own sin, but for the sins of the whole world. "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all...He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (Isaiah 53:6; 1 John2:2) Jesus is the only human who has been ...

"...we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again…God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men's trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation... For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his...  ” (2 Corinthians 5:14, 18-19; Romans 6:5 What will happen if I don’t believe the Gospel?   You miss out on the joy of knowing in this life what God has and will do for you in the next. That’s it! You are still part of the “all” for whom Christ died. You are part of the "world" that Jesus "saved" and "reconciled" to God and you will still be  "united with him in a resurrection like his" . You cannot change that by refusing to believe it.  You can believe it ...

“ Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers! " (Matthew 7:22-23) Jesus is talking to the Jewish religious leaders who went to Synagogue every Sabbath and revered the Law of Moses. They did not think much of the  "sinners"  who Jesus spent most of his time with. "When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" (Matthew 9:11) The Church should be slow to condemn sinners for whom Jesus ate with and died for.  "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." (John 3:17) The bible speaks of a time in the future where Jesus returns to establish once  again the Kingdom of Israel on this earth to last 1,000 years. "And they came to life ...

"The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever... If you are not of this opinion- then you are wrong... He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities...As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:8-12) It amazes me how many Christians do not believe this teaching of the Scripture. Believe God, not men, and tell others the good news…. "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." (2 Corinthians 5:19)

“Yet now, apart from law, a righteousness of God is manifest (being attested by the law and the prophets), yet a righteousness of God through Jesus Christ’s faith, for all, and on all who are believing, for there is no distinction, for all sinned and are wanting of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:21-23 CLNT) The Greek word for sin means to miss the target. The result of "Jesus Christ’s faith" is the salvation, justification and reconciliation of ALL who miss the mark. Our own faith plays no part in our salvation, reconciliation and justification.  Salvation is our target but shooting at it with our own faith will miss every time. So what does it mean when he says Jesus Christ's faith is  “for all, and on all who are believing” ? Glad you asked. The salvation, justification and reconciliation of all mankind is a done deal because of the love, grace and mercy of God, and  "Jesus Christ’s faith" . It is “for” all mankind. However, it is believing this truth wh...

"Out of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things" (Romans 11:36) "...in accordance with the riches of God’s GRACE he made known to us the mystery of his will... to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ…according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will." (Ephesians 1:7-11). The Bible says that everything is out of God and is proceeding just as He wills and "according to the plan" . Jesus is the Son of God and "…the firstborn of all creation" (Colossians 1:15). Through His Son, the living Word, God made everything. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being...And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of gr...

"...Christ Jesus... from whom we have received GRACE ...." (Romans 1:1-7) "...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) The repentance of religion comes from the fear of the doctrines of men who tell us to repent or be damned. However, that kind of repentance does not save anyone from the penalty for sin, which is death - and we all die.  "For all have sinned...the wages of sin is death..." (Romans 3:23; 6:23) The "repentance" referred to in Romans above comes AFTER we realize that God is far better to us than we deserve and is not the angry god worshipped by many Religions.  The real God, the one of the Bible, will save all sinners out of death by his grace.  He sent His Son to die "for the ungodly"  2000 years ago, and will send Jesus again to free us from sin's penalty - death.  "Thou art the Christ, ...

"The soul who sins shall die...." (Ezekiel 18:4) "The wages of sin is death..." (Romans 3:23) "All have sinned..." (Romans 6:230 “So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God" (Romans 14:12) Sin has consequences, both in this life and the next, which a wise person will seek to avoid by making good choices now. Excessive drinking, drug use, eating habits and stress result in serious health problems. Refusing to forgive others for wrongs committed results in hate, which is a miserable and depressing way to go through life. Violating the laws of the land have legal consequences. And death eventually finds us all, f or... "it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment." (Hebrews 9:27) This "judgment" simply means a decision is made as to whether the things we have done in this life were "good or bad" . "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so th...