The blog I posted around eleven today was actually supposed to be yesterday’s post but the internet at school mysteriously would not let anyone on any websites after about 8:30. Since that was yesterday’s I am going to post another today. Today I have been doing a lot of thinking about what my post can be about. (in case you were wondering I think an awful lot) I decided since my two previous posts were about Christianity, I would elaborate a bit on Christ’s Saving Grace. Again this post will be just a general overview and will have to be discussed in deeper detail at a later date. These posts are in no way meant to be the only knowledge you or anyone else should have regarding faith and do not fully convey the fullness of mine or many other Christians’ faith due to the briefness of these posts.
To start off, I am a Christian- a born again believer of the Lord, God and his son Jesus Christ. Through Jesus’ death on Calvary’s cross all of my sins have been forgiven. He was sent through a virgin who gave birth to baby Jesus. When Jesus was born he lived a perfect life, to ultimately forgive people of their sins through his death on the cross. After 3 days of being in a tomb, he rose from the dead. During the time He was on the earth he never sinned, even when Satan himself tried to tempt him at Jesus’ weakest moments (when he was fasting and praying separate from everyone else). Throughout his time on the earth we live in, he traveled from town to town speaking, teaching and preaching. Jesus spoke to thousands and performed countless miracles to the people who had faith in his power. All of these statements can be found in the Gospel books of the Bible (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).
If you have ever read the Gospels you will probably be wondering why all of the gospels tell pretty much the same story, yet differ in their own ways. This is because each of them have different authors and were written at different times ranging 100 years apart even. Which is right, you ask? ALL OF THEM! That’s right, all of them. It will be a hard thing to wrap your mind around as a non-believer or new believer. It was difficult to understand my first time hearing that; the first time I figured out they were all different was about two years ago, after being a believer for several years. They are all correct because the Bible is God’s holy word to his people. Human author’s who were overcome by the Holy Spirit wrote them. We, being his people, are all different and the Gospels differ due to the audiences they address. Matthew is to the Jewish people (who were familiar with the Old Testament prophesy), Mark, Luke and John were more than likely all written to a gentile audience (you and me). John is probably my favorite because it differs from the rest and speaks louder to me for some reason.
I am currently reading in Luke for the second or third time around and this time I am learning more and more about it. This time, not sure why it didn’t ‘click’ before but, I started seeing things Jesus said and now they make more sense about salvation and how one is to obtain it. Luke 5:12-23. Jesus is in a town and a man with leprosy is there. His case is more severe than most, and the man asks Jesus to heal him if He is willing. Jesus tells the man He is willing and instantly the man is healed. After that Jesus was talking to a crowd of people in a house. Some men carried a paralyzed man on a mat to see Jesus, but the house was so crowded they could not even get in the door. They went to the roof of the house and pulled the roof apart to lower their friend down to Jesus. Seeing they had faith that He can heal the sick to go to all this trouble, Jesus said, “young man, your sins are forgiven.” The Pharisees and the Sadducees, who hated Jesus because they felt he was blaspheming the Lord, began mumbling amongst themselves. They asked each other who-He-thought-He-was to be telling people that their sins were forgiven, for that is God’s place only. Jesus asks them “is it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven!’ or ‘Get up and walk?’
It took me until yesterday reading through book to see that salvation is actually simpler than I thought. Like I stated above, Jesus died on the cross to forgive us of all our sins so that we can be saved. If you paid attention to the paragraph above, Jesus healed the people by telling them their sins were forgiven. He had not died on the cross yet, but because He is the Son of God in the flesh he has the power to do all things. Salvation is much like Jesus saying our sins are forgiven. Think about it like this, before we have accepted Jesus into our life we are dead, Romans 6:23 “for the wages of sin is death.” Sinning makes us spiritually dead and in a way is our sickness. Jesus told the men that because of their faith their sins had been forgiven. Because of my faith that Jesus Christ died on the cross to forgive me of my sins, I have been forgiven and healed by the power of His great mercy and love. The same goes for you too! If you admit to God that you are a sinner, and you believe that Jesus is God’s son whom he sent to die on the cross to forgive us of our sins (John 3:16), all you have to do now is confess your faith to him and the world. Jesus said, “Anyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven” Matthew 10:32.
Luke 5:27-32 tells a short story about Jesus meeting a tax collector named Levi. In those days, tax collectors were more unwanted then that they are now. People always saw tax collectors, back then, as corrupt thieves who could easily steal their money due to the lack of an advanced money and communication system between the government and the people. Pretty much what a tax collector said you owed, you had to pay, and anything that isn’t paid to the government is his to keep. People despised the tax collectors, but one day Jesus met one, Levi. He told Levi to follow him and be his disciple and Levi did. Later, Levi held a banquet at his house with Jesus as the guest of honor. Levi’s friends, who were also tax collectors, all came to this banquet. The Pharisees were there to criticize again. They complained to the disciples of Jesus, “Why do you eat and drink with such scum?” Jesus answered them, “Healthy people do not need a doctor, sick people do. I have come not to call those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.” The story here is short but is very deep. Jesus was eating with sinners because sinners are the ones who need saving. Sinners are the sick who need healing; the dead that need resurrection. Eating with the ones who think they are perfect would have been a waste of Jesus’ time, not that Jesus couldn't do that because if he wanted to he would have, but because those kinds of people are the ones who will never change their mind. Jesus ate with the “unclean” so that he could show the world that he has the power to make them clean again. Jesus calls everyone but only those who admit they are in need of saving can actually be saved. You must be willing to accept the call.
Jesus’ saving grace is a marvelous thing that I will definitely come back to time and time again. My words could never fully explain it to you, for God is indescribable. Though there may not be many people at all reading this, Jesus is calling you to him. He already paid the price for your sins and you will be forgiven if only you ask. He is waiting for you to ask him to be a part of your life. During my time reading God’s word, that I try to have daily, I found something different today that I had never paid attention to before. Its not that I did not read it, its just that I hadn’t meditated on the passage before. This is why constant reading of the word is so beneficial to a Christian walk. It is so easy to get caught up in the ways of the world and to fall back into your old life.
There is only one who is perfect, Jesus Christ. No Christian is perfect and through our own power we can never be. Everyday we sin and bring down the name of the perfect God. Romans 2:24 “As it is written, the name of God is blasphemed everyday among the Gentiles because of you.” This statement is from a letter the apostle Paul wrote to the people of Rome. Mainly people of Rome at this time were people of the Jewish faith and this particular section of the letter is directed toward Jews. Paul’s words here, in this part of the letter, can be directed toward gentiles as well as Jews. The verses prior to verse 24 talk about a person who claims to be a Jew. The verses point out that the Jew claims to be a leader or teacher or something of that nature. The paragraph that contains the verse asks the “teacher” if he actually practices what he preaches, if that person really holds up to the standards he makes others live under. Then it tells about verse 24. Saying that everyday we all sin. Everyday each one of us shows that the immediate gratification of sin is worth more to us than to the God in which we say “Is our everything.” Everyday we blaspheme God by saying there is no God by our lifestyle. Sin is a way of denying God and God said that no sin will enter heaven Sin separates us from God. Thank God, literally, for sending his son Jesus to die in advance for our sins that would occur over two centuries later! “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sin.” Romans 3:23-24. It is beyond my comprehension why a God who has everything would even care to send his son, not to mention his one and only son, just to save a sinner like me. I will praise him every chance I get thanks to his amazing love and kindness he has shown to me and every other believer.
One small story before I close. A friend and I were conversing outside of our dorm one afternoon. He said the previous weekend he had been to a conference or some sort of preaching event where the speaker told a story. I do not remember the exact story but I will do the best I can with the details I remember, the more important details. The man was speaking about how an atheist was talking to a Christian. The atheist told the Christian that he could never be a Christian because every Christian he knows is a hypocrite. This Christian must have had a bit more knowledge of God’s word than the Christians the man had spoken to and declared to the atheist that Christianity is not about being perfect. We as Christians are expected to be perfect not only by the world but by our own standards. Backed by scripture he told the man that all men are sinners and fall short of God’s glory. He then told the man that by Jesus’ grace and God the Father’s mercy we were forgiven in advance for everything we have or will ever do against the Lord. God’s knows we will never be perfect that is why he sent his Son to die for us in advance. If anyone other than the Lord Jesus Christ had the ability to be perfect, then Jesus’ mission here on earth would have been in vein. Jesus was able to be perfect because he was the Incarnate God, who is one in the same with the “word” from Genesis’ “in the beginning.” (I wish I would have included that into my “In the Beginning” post but oh well). The Word is with God, the Word is God, Jesus is God in the flesh therefore Jesus is the incarnate Word as well. Jesus knew the Word because he is the Word. Jesus is perfect because his Father is perfect. He overcame sin because He is perfect and IS the perfect Word of God. My friend restated that Christianity isn’t about being perfect, its about knowing your not, and knowing Who is. And by knowing who is you also know who forgives you. He then told the man all he has to do is accept Jesus and believe Jesus died for our sins, and the sins will be forgiven, forever!
Here is where most people will fall off track. Many will disagree on the forever part and for a long time I partially did too, but for a long time ‘forever’ meant something different. Forever, for ME, meant that God wouldn’t be so cruel as to keep someone from coming to heaven based on one unforgiven sin before they died. Yes, no sin will enter into Heaven as said in revelation 21 and explained further in chapter 22. But John 3:16 says something that I caught a while back “whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” The key thing I will start off with is Believe. If you believe in Him, Jesus, and what he did for you then you will have eternal life. (Yes I know it goes much deeper than that but based on the scripture that’s what it means. Future posts will tell of this in more detail I Promise!) So now forever, in regards to ‘forgiven, forever’, means something different to me. Now it means that if I believe in what Jesus did and follow the steps to salvation, then I will always be forever forgiven. No, I do not believe someone could lose his or her salvation. Everything I believe in, that I truly believe in, I will never change my mind about. Therefore if you believe, if you truly BELIEVE, that Jesus died on the cross for your sins then you will be forever forgiven, because in my opinion if you ever “lose your salvation” or “do not believe anymore” then you never truly believed to begin with. Its all in faith. You have to have faith in order to believe.
Ok I hope I did not leave anyone hanging somewhere in the middle. I have been typing and gathering research for this since about 3pm today. My eyes are actually starting to hurt from staring at this screen for so long. If I did leave you hanging, anyone who actually finds my page, please leave me a message and I will get back on what you have questions with ASAP. Thank you so much for reading my page and bearing with my long posts. I pray that God uses this blog to change people’s lives and that I do not misguide anyone in anyway due to any of my faults.
One last thing, I promise! All of the beliefs shared here today are my beliefs as of today based on the scripture I have read, studied and meditated on. Tomorrow God could show me a path completely different from the ideas I have taught about tonight. If it is His will, may it be done in my life. Thanks again! Until next time, to God be the glory!
'Cause I know my God saved the day
And I know His word never fails
And I know my God made a way for me
Salvation is here
Salvation is here
Salvation is here and He lives in me…
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