From 2 Corinthians 5:17-21: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake, He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him, we might become the righteousness of God.” (ESV – all emphasis is mine)
Our Heavenly Father is not an old ogre who sits around waiting for us to fall short and sin so that He can heap all kinds of discipline on us. David wrote in Psalm 103:8, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”
He continued in Psalm 103:11-12 with: “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions forever.”
As with all humans, David was not perfect and sinless, and he had actually committed adultery and murder. However, he confessed through the prophet Nathan in 2 Samuel 12:13 that he had sinned against the Lord. He was disciplined as the prophet said he would be, but he never lost his faith in God, and Solomon was born shortly afterwards. When the genealogy of Jesus is given in Matthew 1, David and Solomon are prominently listed there.
All humans have the ability to have eternal life in Heaven with our Lord and Savior, and it’s a free-will choice for each individual.
Romans chapters 3, 6, and 10 tell us to Admit, or confess, that we’re all sinners and cannot save ourselves. We must Believe that Jesus is the true Son of God who came to Earth for the purpose of providing a pure, sinless blood sacrifice once for all, and that all who Call on Him will be saved. (A-B-Cs of Salvation)
There are man-made religions that declare a person must perform numerous deeds or provide specific finances in order to be “eligible” for whatever paradise they declare is real.
Ephesians 2:8-9 gives the actual facts about this. “For by grace you have been saved, through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast.”
In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus tells us there are only two ways to enter eternity. “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction; and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow, and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
The “hard” part of the narrow gate is believing there isn’t more to our Salvation, and also putting up with persecution from those who are unbelievers. As time progresses closer to the end of this age, we are seeing more and more negativity toward anything that truly pertains to Jesus. Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, and 2 Timothy 3 give signs and attitudes of what will be happening just before the antichrist comes out.
The good news is we have a Savior who came to Earth as a human, and regardless of what false prophets proclaim, He never sinned even once. Hebrews 10:4 tells us; “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” Only the sinless blood of the Son of God could do so.
From the beginning of this earth, and up to the time of Calvary, God allowed animal blood sacrifices to be performed on a regular basis as sin offerings. However, Hebrews 10:14 states, “For by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”
Going to Hebrews 10:17-18; “then He adds, I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more. Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.”
A stern warning is given in Hebrews 10:26-27; “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.”
Jesus tells us of this fire in Matthew 25:41: “Then He will say to those on His left, Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”
God totally understands us, and knows we will still sin. Because of this, we’re told in 1 John 1:8-10, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”
When the Rapture takes place, all who are taken up to meet Jesus in the air will have our mortal bodies replaced with immortal and imperishable bodies that will last forever. Also, our mindset will be like our Savior’s, and we will not be subject to temptation again. We will be in the presence of the One who provided us the way to eternal life through His shed blood on a cruel cross at Calvary.
For all who will not receive and accept Jesus, and all who were out of the will of God prior to Calvary, they will also receive imperishable bodies, but they will be in torment forever (Revelation 20:11-15).
We do not know the day, hour, or even minute that we will be called up to meet Jesus in the air to honor God’s promise of keeping believers from the tribulation. That’s 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, and Revelation 3:10.
Therefore, as with every message I am privileged to post, I invite all who have not yet called out to be saved to consider doing so very soon. Today would not be too early. Once the Rapture takes place, a person will still be able to be saved, but most likely at the cost of martyrdom.
Your Salvation is a gift of the Father for accepting His Son. He will force no one to receive it, but will honor all who truly do so. Once you have Jesus in your heart, you too will look forward to the sound of the Trumpet of God, and the shout from an archangel (1 Corinthians 15:51-53 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17).
This is the most important decision you will ever make. Your eternity – Your choice.
Maranatha! (Come, Lord Jesus!)