Our belief is in Jesus Christ who is God. And has always been in all eternity with God.
John 1:1-2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
Jesus became flesh and walked among us.
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Christ was risen from the dead.
Luke 24:34 saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!"
His Resurrection has brought us Salvation.
Acts 5:30-32 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him."
Jesus died for us sinners.
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Salvation is only obtainable by Jesus Christ.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
He bore our sins, he took the punishment for us.
1 Peter 2:24-25 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness --- by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
To have salvation you must believe that Christ was God in flesh, that he died for our sins, that he was buried and that he rose again.
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you --- unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
Since we are Justified by this faith we can have peace.
Romans 5:1-2 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Whoever believes on Jesus will have eternal life.
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 everlasting life.
Amen!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Then Comes the End - Millennium
For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. (1 Corinthians 15:22-24 ESV)We read in this verse that we have the resurrection of believers when Christ returns. Did you notice what happens after that? "Then comes the end". You will also notice that when the end comes Christ destroys all powers and authorities. This is clearly laid out in Rev 19:11-22. This event is vividly described by Peter as well in 2nd Peter chapter 3.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. (2 Peter 3:10 ESV)We see that the coming of Christ will be immediately followed by the dissolving of the earth and the works in it. Where does that leave a literal 1000 year reign as some interpret Rev. 20:1-6? It doesn't, so there isn't.
There is a major problem with premillennialism in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 1 as well.
since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed. (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10 ESV)We see very clearly in these verses the second coming of Christ. When he does come "on that day" he will punish unbelievers. These texts leave no room for a premillennial return of Christ.
His Will, not our own.
Jeremiah 17:9 ” The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
Romans 3:10-12 As it is written: ” There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”
We as fallen humans are deceitful and desperately wicked. None of us is righteous, nobody seeks after God. Since we are so wholly and completely depraved and deserving nothing but the wrath of God how can we ever choose by our own free will to believe and have faith in Christ’s completed work on the Cross?
John 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.
We can’t. We simply do not have the will to come to God. Only God can draw us to faith in Christ.. It is not our will but His!
John 1:12-13 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Our will will never lead to salvation. It is the Will of God that will bring us to that salvation. To have faith you must be born not of blood (our human will) but of Spirit (God’s Will).
John 3:5-7 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
Being born again is not from us or our will but it is God who causes us to be born again.
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
The Holy Spirit will regenerate us and draw us to Faith in Christ.
Ezekiel 36:27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
God gives us His Spirit while we are still sinners and spiritually dead and on the way to hell.
Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
And so salvation is not of our will, it is not something we can work for. It is the mercy and free gift from God.
Ephesians 2:8-10 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
And it is God’s will that we are saved. It is His mercy, His grace. Not our will, not our desires, not our works. God decided this long before we were here. He chose us before the world began.
Ephesians 1:4-6 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
God’s mercy and grace are His sovereign right to give or to withhold.
Romans 9:15 For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion."
And even though Christ’s Crucifixion was sufficient for all. It was only effective for His sheep, His elect, the Church.
John 10:14-16 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
Christ died only for the ones God predestined to salvation. His blood purchased the Church.
Acts 20:28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
The Church alone receives the salvation and sanctification from Christ’s sacrifice. He bore the sins of the elect, the saints so they can be blameless before God.
Ephesians 5:25-27 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
Since we were predestined for salvation and bought with the Blood of Christ we will continue until the end. Our faith will persevere.
Philippians 1:6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
We are given eternal life, we will not perish. And nothing or no one can take salvation away from us.
John 10:27-29 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.
Soli Deo Gloria
Romans 3:10-12 As it is written: ” There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.”
We as fallen humans are deceitful and desperately wicked. None of us is righteous, nobody seeks after God. Since we are so wholly and completely depraved and deserving nothing but the wrath of God how can we ever choose by our own free will to believe and have faith in Christ’s completed work on the Cross?
John 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.
We can’t. We simply do not have the will to come to God. Only God can draw us to faith in Christ.. It is not our will but His!
John 1:12-13 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Our will will never lead to salvation. It is the Will of God that will bring us to that salvation. To have faith you must be born not of blood (our human will) but of Spirit (God’s Will).
John 3:5-7 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
Being born again is not from us or our will but it is God who causes us to be born again.
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
The Holy Spirit will regenerate us and draw us to Faith in Christ.
Ezekiel 36:27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
God gives us His Spirit while we are still sinners and spiritually dead and on the way to hell.
Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
And so salvation is not of our will, it is not something we can work for. It is the mercy and free gift from God.
Ephesians 2:8-10 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
And it is God’s will that we are saved. It is His mercy, His grace. Not our will, not our desires, not our works. God decided this long before we were here. He chose us before the world began.
Ephesians 1:4-6 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
God’s mercy and grace are His sovereign right to give or to withhold.
Romans 9:15 For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion."
And even though Christ’s Crucifixion was sufficient for all. It was only effective for His sheep, His elect, the Church.
John 10:14-16 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
Christ died only for the ones God predestined to salvation. His blood purchased the Church.
Acts 20:28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.
The Church alone receives the salvation and sanctification from Christ’s sacrifice. He bore the sins of the elect, the saints so they can be blameless before God.
Ephesians 5:25-27 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
Since we were predestined for salvation and bought with the Blood of Christ we will continue until the end. Our faith will persevere.
Philippians 1:6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
We are given eternal life, we will not perish. And nothing or no one can take salvation away from us.
John 10:27-29 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.
Soli Deo Gloria
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