General Articles

Where Is Jesus in All This? :: By Grant Phillips

Published on: by RR7

My wife and I enjoy watching a movie in the evening, especially those that glorify Jesus Christ, but I have begun noticing a trend that is disturbing. For example, we watched a great movie the other night and noticed that the word “faith” was used over and over. So, what’s wrong with that, you say? Nothing, but even though God was mentioned several times, there was no specific mention of Jesus, except one time Jesus’ title as “Christ” was used from a quote in a letter. I’ve noticed this trend in other movies as well.

I’ve also noticed that the world at large very often speaks of faith, whether it be a politician, well-known celebrity, etc. It seems that faith has become the politically correct terminology for superficial Christianity. Most everyone says they have faith, but faith in what or in whom?

As I watch several good religious movies, one thought keeps coming back to me. It appears to me that Satan is promoting a subliminal message in good, decent movies that we don’t need Jesus. All we need is faith. Has it (faith) just become a byword people use to impress others?

There is certainly nothing wrong with having faith. We need faith if we wish to be saved. We must exercise faith in Jesus to be born again (John 3:3). Here is how the Bible defines “faith.”

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Hebrews 11:1-3).

Without true faith in Jesus, we cannot be saved. My concern is that we are placing more emphasis upon our faith than upon the grace of God that provides salvation. Salvation of our soul is found in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Yes, our faith must be applied, but it is grace that reaches out and saves us. Faith in Jesus gives us eternal life because of His grace.

“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” (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Notice that we are saved BY GRACE, and it is THROUGH FAITH. It (salvation) is a GIFT, NOT of WORKS, lest any of us should boast about our faith.

Some may argue that I am just being “picky,” but I beg to disagree. When we watch movies, we need to keep in mind that man wrote the script for the movies, but God wrote the Bible to give us Truth. I’m afraid we are getting to the point, and may have already arrived, that we are placing salvation upon “lip service.” In other words, the emphasis is on me instead of Him.

How much faith is needed? According to Jesus, just a spark to turn the engine and get it going.

“So the Lord said, ‘If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you'” (Luke 17:6).

I stated earlier that most everybody states they have faith. I ask again, “faith in what?” Faith in yourself? Faith in your church affiliation? Faith in your position in society? Faith in your so-called works? Faith in some false gospel you have latched on to? We could go on and on with this, but really, what do you mean when there is no mention of Jesus as the subject of your faith?

Our works are also important, but only after we are saved. True faith is important because it opens the door to let Jesus in. Jesus is most important because He, and only He, provides salvation by His death, burial and resurrection. That is God’s grace in action.

“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” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

Real faith rests in Jesus Christ, and in it, we recognize we are a sinful person. We also accept that Jesus has done all the work. We just need to trust and follow Him.

We are saved by the wonderful grace of God, and shown in the following verses are faith (belief or trust), salvation and works.

“that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 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” (John 3:15-16).

Twice this verse mentions belief. True belief is faith that rests in Jesus.

“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17).

Again, Jesus does the saving. By faith we come to Him, but He is the one who saves.

“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18).

In this verse, belief is mentioned once and non-belief twice. Belief is faith. In this verse, in what do we believe? Our faith must be in the “name of the only begotten Son of God,” Jesus.

“And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19).

We must agree with God that we are a sinner who needs to be saved. Only in that Light can God shower His grace upon us through the Lord Jesus Christ.

“For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:20).

Again, we are sinners and must come to the light (Jesus) to be saved.

“But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God” (John 3:21).

The truth is in Jesus and His Word. Those who come to Him are saved.

Notice that we open the door (Revelation 3:20) by faith, and we are saved by the gift that God gave, the gift of His Son, who provides the gift of salvation. Then in the last verse (21), those who believe produce works because they have come into the Light. [1] Faith (belief) opens the door. [2] Grace saves through Jesus, the Gift in verse three. [3] Works come from a new believer.

Is faith important? Of course it is important, but faith in anything other than Jesus is no faith at all. Even for those who are already saved by God’s grace, faith continues to be very important. Our faith is the stepping stone that leads us to the Savior. It is also the mechanism we use to depend upon God in our walk as a true Christian.

Has the world taken a term (faith) that God says is required for salvation and the Christian walk and totally missed the point?

“But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:18).

“Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? — unless indeed you are disqualified” (2 Corinthians 13:5).

Both of these last two verses are referring to a faith that is grounded in Jesus Christ. If we have faith, let us be certain that Jesus Christ is the object of our faith. If our faith rests in anything or anyone other than Him, it is misguided and we remain in our sins, lost and without His saving grace.

Grant Phillips

Email: Phillip5769@twc.com

Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com

Rapture Ready: https://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html

God Is Love :: By Dennis Huebshman

Published on: by RR7

Possibly the most recognized verse in the Bible is John 3:16; “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son; that whoever believes on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (ESV; all emphasis mine)

To expand on this, we go to 1 John 4:7-21. It’s lengthy but worth taking a close look at.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and whoever loves has been born of God, and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God Is Love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. We know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the World.

“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of Judgment, because as He is, so also are we to this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears not has been perfected in love. We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom He has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

While all this may seem a bit overwhelming, verse 19 is a very brief explanation of what God expects of us all; “We love because He first loved us.” Jesus Himself told us the first and great commandment is to love the Lord God with all our hearts, our souls and our minds. The second is to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 27:37-39; Luke 10:27).

The world has trouble dealing with a true believer. As our Savior did, and still does, we love everyone for their immortal, eternal souls and desire that they would call out to Jesus and be saved. Most people of this world will not do so; therefore, they face the long line that will be at the White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20:11-15. There, they will learn what their eternal punishment will be. The only unforgivable sin today is to take the last breath on this earth without Jesus as Savior. Otherwise, all can be forgiven.

We intimidate others because even though we love them, we do not have to accept their lifestyles. In fact, loving someone for their soul does not mean we cannot dislike them. Jesus had the most negative issues with the “religious leaders” of His day and didn’t hesitate to let them know He was not happy with them. However, He was always ready to forgive and accept those who reached out to Him.

Matthew was a tax collector, and so was Zacchaeus. Both had faith in the Lord, and their lifestyles changed because of Him. Nicodemus was a Pharisee who, along with Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin, claimed the body of the Savior and placed Him in a grave.

We do not know how many, if any, of the rest of the religious leaders called out to be saved after Jesus was crucified and then was raised from the dead. Any who may have done so fell under Romans 10:13, “All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” That applied then and still applies today.

The ABCs of Salvation are contained in all the above scriptures. A – admit or confess that we are all sinners in need of a Savior. B – Believe that Jesus is Lord and our only way to the Father (John 14:6). C – Call on Jesus to be saved.

Remember 1 John 4:17, which says our love is perfected by the love of God so that we have confidence for our day of judgment. We may receive discipline and possibly lose some rewards, but as true believers, we will still have eternal life with Jesus. In John 10, Jesus tells us He knows His flock, and His flock knows Him. No one takes us from His hand once we receive and accept His precious gift.

All who are of this world are of their leader, Satan. They may believe Jesus exists but do not accept Him as the true Son of God just as the devil and demons do not. The desires and temptations of this world are more important to many than their eternal destiny. Many actually believe Satan’s lies that they can always call out later if they wish.

With that in mind, consider Luke 12:16-21 about a rich man who had a large productive crop and made plans to build bigger barns and have a very comfortable future. One problem was, God demanded his soul that very night, and someone else would have all his wealth. We are not guaranteed another hour on this earth. However, those of us who have Jesus as our Savior do not worry about this. To leave here is to actually become alive for the very first time.

In February 2017, CeCe Winans released a song called “Let Them Fall In Love.”

1.) If they can’t see, how will they turn? If they can’t hear, how will they learn? Touch their eyes; bless their lives; hear this prayer; hear my cry.

R.) Father, let them fall in love with You. Please forgive them too. For they know not what they do; let them fall in love with You.

2.) If hearts are cold, how will they know? If minds are seared, how will they grow? Grant them time, time to find Grace through Faith, Love through Christ.

(Rx3)

This fairly well sums up my daily prayers for all of our loved ones, especially those who may not have Jesus in their hearts yet. The time is coming soon when a group of people will be taken up from this earth to meet Jesus in the air. All who will be left behind will have the most miserable time ever experienced on this earth. I don’t even want those who may not like me to go through that.

The love and glory that awaits us cannot fully be put in human terms but is definitely something to look forward to. All who have not received and accepted Jesus as their Savior would be encouraged to do so today; right now wouldn’t be too early. Ours is a God of Love, and He would love for us to be with Him forever. It’s totally up to each person’s choice.

Jesus is ready to prepare a place for you in Heaven (John 14:1-3) for all who will call on Him to be their eternal Savior. Please don’t hesitate; call today; He’s waiting to receive you.

Maranatha!

huebshman46@gmail.com