Believing God

The Reconciliation of all:

"God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their sins against them" (2 Corinthians 5:19)

"and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven." (Colossians 1:20)

Faith and Justification:

“Abraham believed God (had Faith), and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6;Romans 4:3;Galatians 3:6)

"...having been justified by faith (believing God), we have peace with God" (Romans 5:1)

Rewards:

“And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” (Revelation 22:12)

"For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ...and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; BUT HE HIMSELF WILL BE SAVED, yet so as through fire." (1 Corinthians 3:11-15)

Either we believe God or we make up some argument that He does not really mean what He says. What He says is that ALL will be reconciled to God and we are JUSTIFIED and have PEACE when we believe God will RECONCILE all things to Himself.  We will be REWARDED (or not) based on our FAITH in what God says.

Mighty To Save

“The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing....Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." (Zephaniah 3:17; Luke 19:9-10)

While reading the above I was reminded of one of my favorite childhoods heros, who would come on the scene of a difficult situation with these words...

“Here I come to save the day...” - Anyone else remember this mighty cartoon character?

Mankind has a God who is a “Mighty Warrior who Saves” and He is definitely not a cartoon character although many Atheists and Philisophers think so. I think they are mostly rejecting Christianity's portrayal of Him than anything else. And who could blame them – most Christian evangelicals over the years have projected a view of a god who is mad at the world of sinners and is “Mighty to eternally condemn them to Hell”.

Nevertheless, the Bible teaches that “the world” is the object of God's love and although “all have sinned”, He is “the Mighty Warrior who saves”. Listen as the Bible makes this clear...

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him..For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord..” (John 3:16-17; Romans 6:23)

I know, I know ”whoever believes in him shall not perish”. I undertand that and believe what it says, but it DOES NOT say “whoever does not believe in him during this life will be cast into hell to be tortured for all eternity” as Christianity has taught. Ask yourself, when a person is raised to life from death and is standing before the Judge, our Lord Jesus Christ, will they not all then “believe” that "Jesus Christ is Lord"? Believe what God says in the Bible, not what institutions teach that God says...

“For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, “AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD.” So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God...For this reason also, God highly exalted Him (Jesus), and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that EVERY TONGUE WILL CONFESS that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father..”. (Romans 14:10-12; Philippians 2:9-11)

AND when will this occur?...

“(when) the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then (after every knee bows and every tongue confesses) each man's praise will come to him from God.” (1 Corinthians 4:5)

The Work Of God

"Then they said to Him, what shall we do, that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, this is the work of God that you believe in Him whom He sent.” (John 6:28-29)

They asked the wrong question, but Jesus gave the right answer. It is not about any "works" we must do, but the "work of God". The “work of God” is to bring all mankind to faith in His Son Jesus, the Savior of the world. God’s work will not be complete until “every knee” bows and “every tongue” confesses that Jesus is Lord.

Will God fail in His work? - NOT A CHANCE!

“…at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11)

What does God use to convince people to believe Him?

"…Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven…and with great power the apostles gave witness to the RESURRECTION of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all" (Acts 1:11; 4:33).

The Apostles to Israel understood their witness to be one thing…the RESURRECTION of Jesus. They had seen it first hand, and their great JOY revolved around his resurrection and promised return.

The Apostle to the Gentiles (Paul) understood his witness to be the resurrection of all, and it was this message that motivated him in the face of all his suffering.

“I stand this day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place; that the Christ was to suffer, and that by reason of His RESURRECTION from the dead He would be the first to proclaim LIGHT both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles." (Acts 26:22-23)

And what is this “light” to be proclaimed to both Jews and Gentles? 

The "work of God" - THE RESURRECTION of ALL.

“Christ has been raised from the dead, the FIRST FRUITS of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ ALL WILL BE MADE ALIVE.” (1 Corinthians 15:20-22)

"And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” (Acts 20:32)

What does “the word of His grace” mean and what is this word? The Greek for “word” is “logo” and simply means that which is communicated to mankind by God. And what is that? His GRACE…unmerited favor among those who are sanctified. 

Mankind is sanctified (deemed Holy by God) through the truth of His Word (what He has communicated to us)…

“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.” (John 17:17-18)

Christ Jesus came to save the world. He consecrated himself for that purpose and through his shed blood he succeeded.

“…all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness… But he has appeared once FOR ALL at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.” (Hebrews 9:22-26)

So for me, the “WORD OF HIS GRACE” is as follows:

Mankind is SAVED by His GRACE, not of works…

“For by grace you have been saved…not as a result of works” (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Mankind is JUSTIFIED (declared righteous) by His GRACE…

“…so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:7)

Mankind is RECONCILED to God through Christ Jesus by His Grace…

“…God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19)

So where does FAITH fit in?

The Greek word for FAITH is also translated BELIEVE. So FAITH is simply believing what God says. Mankind can only find true JOY and PEACE in this present evil age by having FAITH in the “Word of His Grace”….in other words by believing it. 

NEVERTHELESS, there will come a day when everyone will come forth from the grave (“hades”) as Jesus said…

“…for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. I can do nothing on my own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and MY JUDGMENT IS JUST (right), because I do not seek my own will, but THE WILL OF HIM WHO SENT ME.” (John 5:28-30)

It is my view of Scripture that at the resurrection those of us who have BELIEVED the “word of his Grace” in this age will rise to enter immediately into immortal life. Those who, for whatever reason, have NOT believed the “word of his Grace” in this life will rise to be judged JUSTLY, according to the WILL of God who sent Jesus to SAVE the world, not condemn it…

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him...it is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. Prescribe and teach these things.…” (John 3:17; 1 Timothy 4:8-10)

“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?” (Jeremiah 32:27)

Sometimes I wonder how many Christians actually believe what the Bible teaches. God has promised to save the world. Is that too hard for Him?

“…God our Savior; Who WILL have ALL MEN to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom FOR ALL, to be testified in due time.” (1 Timothy 2:1-7 KJV)

How is it that those who claim to believe in Him do not believe what He says? Regardless of what men have taught for 2000 years, I prefer to believe God and hold fast to my hope without wavering.

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23)