Tag: Salvation

Do you know Jesus?


We live our lives in a world full of technology. People are connected today in ways that only thirty years ago was not possible. What about being connected to your Redeemer? The signal clarity never goes away and it is always a clear signal because He hears our every prayer. So why do we not hear Him when He calls? Maybe because we are not listening? Or it might be possible that we just can’t hear that small voice for all of the electronic stuff that we have ringing in our ears between us and Him.

When we have come to know Jesus, do we decide or does our heart feel the pull of the Holy Spirit? Your only decision is whether or not to answer His call on your life, we don’t decide to get saved just on our decision alone. Unless your heart feels the pull of the Holy Spirit, you won’t feel the conviction to ask Jesus into your heart, that is why we can’t just decide to be saved on our own.

Jesus said that the only way to come to the Father is through Him and the only way that you will know that you need Him is by the conviction of your soul and your heart. Just as Peter was broken after he denied the Lord, we have to be convicted and broken to know that we need Him. We cannot save ourselves and through no action on our part can we be justified before God. Our justification comes through Jesus and faith in Him alone.

“Is it possible that you can lose your salvation?” is a question which gets asked many times. The answer is no, you can’t lose your salvation if you truly have it. If you were “saved” during an emotional event and your life didn’t change afterward, then you may not have been saved. If your character, the person that you truly are, didn’t change and your habits didn’t change then you likely didn’t truly ask Jesus into your heart. Yet, many people think that they are saved because of these things and in many instances they will not listen to anyone from that point on regarding their salvation.

This is a deception that Satan has used for many thousands of years. People think that they have their salvation, their so-called “fire insurance” and no amount of preaching or prayer will get their attention unless God does. They remind me of the Pharisees of Jesus’ time. So wrapped up in their religiousness until they didn’t recognize the Messiah when He came.

Why do we do this? We make up our own worldview, our own comfortable spot that makes us feel all fuzzy and safe, and yet we are deceiving ourselves. Still being taken in by Satan’s schemes, we walk in our comfortable religious “feeling”, and fool ourselves right into hell itself.

Now, I don’t want anyone to think that I am judging anyone, all I am doing is pointing out what some people do. The only One who judges is Jesus and He knows the condition of your heart, regardless of how well you may hide it from others.

God’s Word is the only text that we need in order to know how to be saved and then how to follow Jesus afterwards. It is our instruction book for life everlasting and for life here while we can make a difference in other people’s lives.

We have pushed God’s Word from our lives and from the education system that our children are indoctrinated in and yet we want them to grown up into moral, law abiding citizens. How can they when we have removed the teaching and the influence of God in their lives? Many people don’t go to church regularly anymore so their children are not brought up hearing God’s Word! We are creating a culture that has no fear of God because they don’t know Him or even know about Him.

This fact alone is shown in our culture today because of a small group of people who want freedom from religion, of any type. They don’t want to be told that anything that they may say or do is morally wrong, and yet they will have to account for every word and deed when they face God one day.

The answer to all of life’s questions is found in God’s Word and yet there are many who don’t even have a copy of it in their home. I have read through its pages many times and each time I get a sense of peace and security that I can get nowhere else, because it is a living Word and each of us gets a different message each time we read it or hear it.

Pick up a copy of it at the library or at a book store. Ask God to show you His wisdom for your life through His Word. You won’t be disappointed with the answers to many questions that you have had and you may be surprised about the answers that you never thought would be there. May God richly bless each of you!

Righteousness, can we have it? Do we get it?


In the book of Romans, Paul writes in chapter three verse ten: “As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one”. Does this preclude anyone and everyone from obtaining it? Can we be righteous?

We are able to be righteous, but not on our own or by our own strength. Anyone can be righteous. Everyone can be righteous, but there are conditions for our ability by itself is not sufficient. How can it be obtained for us? Is it possible for us to be righteous?

Yes, we can be righteous but our own power and will, cannot accomplish this. At least, not to the satisfaction of a righteous God although in many ways He doesn’t condemn our efforts. It’s just that there is nothing that we can do to be good enough compared to His perfection. Our efforts and our own goodness can never be good enough without Christ and His righteousness covering us with His perfect righteousness.

The prophet Isaiah wrote:

Isaiah 64:6

6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all of our righteousness is as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

The apostle Paul wrote again in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”

None of us can hope to attain a level of being as some today teach that we can that is comparable to God and His perfect righteousness. The only way that we can be righteous is through the transforming power of Jesus and by accepting Him as our Savior. When He comes into your heart and your life, then you are made a new creation, righteous through Him toward God!

We can’t accomplish this on our own in any way that mankind has devised. Through morality, or charity, or any of the good things that man can do. None of them are good enough, even though the world looks at them as being good. In comparison to God’s perfection, they are not.

Yet, according to Paul in Romans chapter six verse twenty three: “For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”. Again in chapter 5:8, he wrote: “But God commended His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”.

Can we ignore these things that God has done for us even though we don’t deserve any of them? God’s grace and mercy toward all of mankind is more gracious than we could possibly deserve. Truly, God could have just destroyed the earth and started over someplace else but He chose not to. We can’t understand why He did this or what His reasons are for loving us enough to be this merciful, but that doesn’t discount the fact that He does love us, all of us and He will never stop loving us.

What about our love for Him? Do we show that love in service or in dedication to Him? Why not? Doesn’t He deserve our love? If for no other reason, He deserves it because He loved us before we decided to come to Him. He loves you even while you are a sinner and He loved all of us in that way, before we felt the call to give our life to Jesus. God doesn’t require you to “clean yourself up” before you come to Him. Jesus didn’t ask the thief to “clean up” before he would be in paradise. He told him that he would be in paradise that day!

If He can accept someone who has done something bad enough for the Romans to crucify him, then we certainly are able to come to Him at any time in our life. There was no time left to “clean up”, all the thief did was ask Christ to remember him when He came into His kingdom and he did this in faith. Can we do no less than this? Jesus told His disciples that they needed to have the faith of a child but in many ways, that may be why so many can’t or don’t come to Him.

It is too simple and easy and they aren’t required to do or give anything for this grace. That is not exactly true. We are required to give our life to Jesus in exchange for His righteousness and forgiveness of every sin that we have committed or will commit. Giving your life or my life is not an easy thing because we must continually do it on a daily basis. That is what Jesus meant by taking up your cross daily and following Him because in doing so you have to stop doing what you have done before. Giving your life to Jesus is a daily process; it isn’t finished when you ask Him into your heart, it is just beginning!

I know that is not what many people have heard or been taught but it is the truth because that is what Jesus taught. Taking up your cross means laying down your life (your old self) daily to follow Jesus and it is a process that doesn’t stop until you meet Him face to face. As you walk with Him daily through your life, the process of laying down your “old self” will become easier. The beginning of your journey with Jesus will be a little rough because your friends and your habits will still be around and that will complicate things.

I am not saying that you have to get rid of your friends, but you are not the same person once you give your life to Jesus. If there has been a change in your heart, it will show and they will see it. It will shine through your heart and into your character so that the world will see that there has been a change whether you tell anyone or not!

When your friends ask you what has happened to you? All that you have to say is that “I have met Jesus, and I am His and He is mine!” If they want to know more, well, bring them to church with you. Show them some things that you have learned in the Bible. If you don’t have the answers for them, call someone who does and let them answer their questions. Your life in Christ is your witness to the world, but only if you allow Him to change your heart and your life into a reflection of Him. If you decide that you want to go back to what you were doing before, then there may not have been a change. You may have felt an emotional high when you came down the aisle, but that could have been it.

Only God knows the condition of your heart, no one else can discern your spiritual condition except Him. Give your heart to Jesus and He will strengthen you and help you to do His will in your life because you can’t do it alone and you won’t unless you have Him there.

Why all the hostility toward the Bible?


The main reason for all of the hostility toward God‘s Word is because of its claims to the Truth. The Bible is an old book and today, many people look at it as such. Why should I read something which was written over two thousand years ago? It was written as our hand-book for life, that is why. True, it was written for the Jewish people to begin with, but when Jesus came and the New Covenant was established in His sacrifice for all of mankind it became everyone’s book!

Jesus said that “I am the way, the truth and the life. He that comes to Me will have everlasting life“; I paraphrased that but those words were spoken by Him for us today, now! The time is growing short, much shorter than it has been since He went to His Father and He said that He would return and He will, soon. No one knows the day or the hour but with the world on the brink of what the Bible calls the end times.

There is hope for each of us if we will give our lives to Christ and ask Him to come into our hearts. This web address is very helpful in answering your questions and pointing you in the direction that you need to go: http://peacewithgod.jesus.net/.

The world and those who are in the world, at times, cannot see or understand God’s Word. If you have not given your life to Jesus, think about it, pray about it. It is not a weakness to ask Him into your life because being a Christian is sometimes one of the hardest things to do.

I know that many people see it as being weak and some even view Christians as people who have their screws loose. That is not the case but the secular world doesn’t recognize the wisdom which is contained in God’s Word. Even the Bible says that the world sees God’s wisdom as foolishness.

Regardless of the message that other religions give, Jesus is the only way to heaven and eternal life. Can you come to Him by any other way than accepting Jesus as your Savior? No, the only way to know that you are saved from your sins is by repenting (turning around/away from) of them and asking Jesus for forgiveness and asking Him to come into your heart and change you into the person that you were meant to be.

The ruler of this world, Satan, doesn’t want you to come to Jesus or the knowledge that you can change your life by coming to Him. He will do anything to keep you from this because he hates you and God! Pride can get in the way of your salvation too. There are many things of this world that can keep us from turning to God, but your heart knows where to turn when there is nowhere else to go. Give your life to Jesus and your life will never be the same, it will be better!

Trying to be the best will not get you into Heaven


It is a fact that we try all of our lives to be the best at whatever we do or who we are. Some of us succeed, many of us fail, but being the “best you can be” will NOT get your foot into the gates of Heaven!

Your salvation is not based on works, it is based on belief in Jesus and the penalty that He paid for your sins. There are works that we should do for God and His Kingdom, but our works alone cannot save us. Anything that we do in our own strength and of our own wisdom will not have any impact on our salvation.

As Jesus said to His disciples, “Apart from me, you can do nothing”. We can try but we will fail by ourselves and on our own. We may be able to do things for and in the “world”, and we may be successful at some things, but if  by our own efforts we are striving for eternity they will fail without Christ in our life and without Him in those plans.

Our best is not good enough unless God is involved in all aspects of our lives. Christ is our strength and our reliance on Him for that strength is mandatory to be a successful Christian. There are many religions which point people to their strengths, their self-reliance to be successful in life and in their spiritual lives, but these endeavors will not produce eternal rewards because they are from man’s point of view and in man-made religions.

Religions that have been started by men only confuse and deny the issues that are real in our world. This is exactly what Satan wants because it takes away from the Truth of God’s Word and the gospel of Jesus. If we do not get any message out to the people in the world, in our congregations, in our home or workplace, we must get them to know Christ!

We are not the ones who save, but the message about His grace and the work that He did for us must be told to all who will listen. Once that is accomplished, the seed is planted in their hearts and the Spirit takes over the watering and nurturing of their conscience toward being saved and sanctified in Christ.

The blessing that we have been given through the blood of Christ that allows us to come to a saving knowledge of Him is not to be held unto ourselves but is to be given to others. Once we have that blessing, we are to give it away to others. How could we keep this knowledge and the gift of eternity from others? Knowing of the eternal consequences for those who have not accepted Jesus should make us want to tell anyone who will listen.

Yet, the wisdom of God is foolishness to those who won’t accept it and to the world as well. Believe in Jesus, search the scriptures, find the truth and don’t believe the lies that are told in the world. Satan knows these things are true but he has been and is leading the world astray and when the age comes to a close, it will be too late.

Celebrating Easter


The idea that a rabbit has anything to do with Jesus’ resurrection came from a pagan ritual. The truth and the reason that we celebrate Easter is the resurrection of Jesus after His crucifixion! It has nothing to do with the spring of the year or eggs or rabbits but it has everything to do with your salvation!

Jesus died to ransom you from the penalty of your sins, regardless of what those sins are! It doesn’t matter if it is a lie that you told your Mom or your boss or your wife/husband, even that is a sin. It may be considered a small sin but in God’s eyes and in His universe this is no different from murder. Sins are just that, sins, regardless of the severity or consequences in our world! To a holy God, our God, sins are all the same regardless of the effect they have in this world.

This is a hard message to hear and to learn but it must be said because there is an eternity at stake and it is yours and mine! Think about what God might feel. He created all of us as His children, to learn about Him, to decide on our own to love Him because of what He does for us on a daily basis. Then, when we decide not to love Him and sin against Him, He feels it like a knife every time. Not just from one of us at a time but from everyone on earth!

We won’t be perfect even after we accept Christ as our Savior but we will have His righteousness to cover those sins that we do commit! We will still sin but we will know it, the Holy Spirit will let us know and we will want to follow Jesus’ footsteps toward the Father. If you haven’t allowed Him to change your heart and your life, please consider this…the fires of hell never go out and after your life on earth is over you will live forever regardless of where you are.

The eternal life that you live will have much more meaning and purpose if you serve Him now so you can serve Him then. If you choose not to allow Him into your life while you have this time on earth, (since we don’t know when our time ends we may not have another chance), your eternity will be very different from what it could have been!

Satan doesn’t care about you or your life other than getting you to choose not to follow Christ, as long as he can accomplish that he feels that he has hurt God more each time one of us chooses our own way instead of God’s way!