All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NKJV)
We are called by God to repentance. We find forgiveness by sincerely leaving a life of sin and humbling ourselves in coming to God through His Son Jesus Christ. Christ is the only way to salvation. His death and resurrection is enough for us to be counted worthy. And this is enough to set us free from the bondage of sin and death. And yes we cannot do this on our own, even in repenting, we need God's help. But we should rejoice because we have found a new life in Him!
Now that we have a wonderful life ahead, what should we do next?
I do believe that the next big thing that we have to do is start getting to know God in a more intimate way. And that is through prayer and reading of God's word. The bible is the source of God's words. The truth about who He is and the works of Jesus Christ had been written for us to come to know Him even more. It is amazing to realize that God did not leave us groping for directions. Instead He makes clear the path that we are to undertake through His declared words in the bible. Discernment and understanding of the scripture is also by the grace of God through the Holy Spirit who is in us once we accept Jesus Christ as our savior. And through prayer we declare His grace, mercy and love. We praise him according to who He is. And we bring to Him all our supplications. Literally, we converse with Him. We pour out our soul to Him with no restrictions.
As 1Peter 5:7 says " Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you."
Yet we will sometimes doubt. However I am confident that the cure for doubt is to run to scriptures and hold on to the promise that God brings to pass what He said He would bring to pass no matter what. Truly, life in God is secure and peaceful. Yet He does not promise a life without suffering or trials. Instead He promises to keep us in His love and strength even in the midst of uncertainty.
God knows your deepest thoughts and even desires. And because we have a relationship with Him, He wants us to pour out our heart to Him and to be honest about our frailty and weaknesses. He wants us to depend on Him and not on our own strength. He wants us to be intimate with Him and to be passionate about Him. Regardless of what situation we are in today, He wants us to know that we could depend on Him and on His words.
Knowing that He loves us dearly should motivate us to commit our lives to Him even more.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Man's Biggest Problem and the Evidence of God's Lovingkindess: Jesus Christ
Who is Jesus Christ? What is it about Him that is so important for us to understand?
God loves us. He wants us to have an abundant life through Him. However there is one problem with man, and that is SIN. Yes, we are all sinners. We are separated from God because of it. And there is a grave consequence of sin and that is death.
Historically sin started when Adam and Eve - the first man and woman created by God- ate from the tree of life. God said they should not eat from the tree of life because they would die. The serpent however deceived them, he said "you will not surely die!" But because they disobeyed and ate of the fruit, they were cast out from the presence of God (Genesis 3). This is the fall of man because consequently "man will surely die" as opposed to what the serpent had said.
There are two types of death, one is the "physical" death which all of us will go through. But the other type is more serious and that is "spiritual" death or the eternal separation from God. Eternal means forever cast out from God. Cast out does not mean we will roam around from one place to another and denied entrance to heaven, rather we will be thrown into the lake of fire forever. (Revelation 21:8). This is what we commonly now call hell.
Therefore, we may like it or not we are destined to hell because we are all sinners.
Romans 3:10 There is none righteous not even one;
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;
James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all
We cannot save ourselves, because we are sinful in nature. There are no amount of good works one can make in order to save himself because at one point or another we will fail. This is the most unfortunate state of mankind.
Because of God's real love for us, He made a solution to a somewhat hopeless tragedy man is facing. He sent His Son Jesus Christ. What is so important for us to understand is that Jesus Christ is God Himself in the flesh. He is God.
Jesus Christ died on the cross as a penalty for our sin. Yes each of our sins have already been paid for by the death of Jesus Christ.
Imagine yourself in the brink of bankruptcy as an example, there is no way for you to pay-off all your debts. You are desperate and you have no way out. Creditors are after you left and right, some even threaten to take your life. Then came this person paid-off all your debts just like that no questions asked. What will you do?
Jesus Christ did the same for us. We are a slave to sin and there is no way out. But God, with no questions asked gave up His Son who sacrificed His life for us to have this freedom from sin. This is a gift from God because of His love.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
How will you respond?
Just like the person who has been saved from the brink of bankruptcy, do you think he would remain desperate and lost despite the fact that his debts have been paid-off? I think he would rejoice that he is now free. I assume he would even follow that man and maybe even serve him with gratitude.
How about us? How would we respond to the truth that we are made righteous before God not because of what we did but because of what Jesus Christ did? Will we accept it? This is a gift. We may opt not to accept it since God bestowed upon us the freedom of choice. We have to consider that despite of God's love toward us, He too will not hold back your freedom. He may find means and ways to pursue you and yes He will, but ultimately the choice is yours.
Truth is, eternal life and hell is real. God's only solution is Jesus Christ. There is no other way for us to be saved except through faith and belief in the works of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ Himself.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.;
Jesus said in
John 14:6 I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.
Everyday we always have a choice to make. To believe and to have faith in Christ and what He offers to us is also a choice. And that choice is accompanied with the decision to leave behind a sinful life and to live in accordance to God's desires. Our sins have been forgiven already and God waits for us to take that step of faith: to leave the life of sin and to live a life guided by God. This is a start of a relationship with God, a life committed to Him. God knows we are not perfect but the sincerity of our faith will move us to live lives that show our gratitude to God for His free gift of eternal life.
If you want to express your faith in Jesus Christ, pray a simple prayer- humbling ourselves that we are sinners and that we need God and we believe and accept that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty of our sins. That we accept this gift. Let us also ask God to help us live a life according to His will. Let us thank Him for His gift of eternal life.
Hope this guides us in our prayer of accepting God's gift. And I hope that by choosing to believe in this truth we may now live a victorious life in Christ Jesus.
God loves us. He wants us to have an abundant life through Him. However there is one problem with man, and that is SIN. Yes, we are all sinners. We are separated from God because of it. And there is a grave consequence of sin and that is death.
Historically sin started when Adam and Eve - the first man and woman created by God- ate from the tree of life. God said they should not eat from the tree of life because they would die. The serpent however deceived them, he said "you will not surely die!" But because they disobeyed and ate of the fruit, they were cast out from the presence of God (Genesis 3). This is the fall of man because consequently "man will surely die" as opposed to what the serpent had said.
There are two types of death, one is the "physical" death which all of us will go through. But the other type is more serious and that is "spiritual" death or the eternal separation from God. Eternal means forever cast out from God. Cast out does not mean we will roam around from one place to another and denied entrance to heaven, rather we will be thrown into the lake of fire forever. (Revelation 21:8). This is what we commonly now call hell.
Therefore, we may like it or not we are destined to hell because we are all sinners.
Romans 3:10 There is none righteous not even one;
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;
James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all
We cannot save ourselves, because we are sinful in nature. There are no amount of good works one can make in order to save himself because at one point or another we will fail. This is the most unfortunate state of mankind.
Because of God's real love for us, He made a solution to a somewhat hopeless tragedy man is facing. He sent His Son Jesus Christ. What is so important for us to understand is that Jesus Christ is God Himself in the flesh. He is God.
Jesus Christ died on the cross as a penalty for our sin. Yes each of our sins have already been paid for by the death of Jesus Christ.
Imagine yourself in the brink of bankruptcy as an example, there is no way for you to pay-off all your debts. You are desperate and you have no way out. Creditors are after you left and right, some even threaten to take your life. Then came this person paid-off all your debts just like that no questions asked. What will you do?
Jesus Christ did the same for us. We are a slave to sin and there is no way out. But God, with no questions asked gave up His Son who sacrificed His life for us to have this freedom from sin. This is a gift from God because of His love.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
How will you respond?
Just like the person who has been saved from the brink of bankruptcy, do you think he would remain desperate and lost despite the fact that his debts have been paid-off? I think he would rejoice that he is now free. I assume he would even follow that man and maybe even serve him with gratitude.
How about us? How would we respond to the truth that we are made righteous before God not because of what we did but because of what Jesus Christ did? Will we accept it? This is a gift. We may opt not to accept it since God bestowed upon us the freedom of choice. We have to consider that despite of God's love toward us, He too will not hold back your freedom. He may find means and ways to pursue you and yes He will, but ultimately the choice is yours.
Truth is, eternal life and hell is real. God's only solution is Jesus Christ. There is no other way for us to be saved except through faith and belief in the works of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ Himself.
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.;
Jesus said in
John 14:6 I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.
Everyday we always have a choice to make. To believe and to have faith in Christ and what He offers to us is also a choice. And that choice is accompanied with the decision to leave behind a sinful life and to live in accordance to God's desires. Our sins have been forgiven already and God waits for us to take that step of faith: to leave the life of sin and to live a life guided by God. This is a start of a relationship with God, a life committed to Him. God knows we are not perfect but the sincerity of our faith will move us to live lives that show our gratitude to God for His free gift of eternal life.
If you want to express your faith in Jesus Christ, pray a simple prayer- humbling ourselves that we are sinners and that we need God and we believe and accept that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty of our sins. That we accept this gift. Let us also ask God to help us live a life according to His will. Let us thank Him for His gift of eternal life.
Hope this guides us in our prayer of accepting God's gift. And I hope that by choosing to believe in this truth we may now live a victorious life in Christ Jesus.
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