That You Might Have Life

That You Might Have Life



Jesus Christ is not a created being. He is the creator:
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
God became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ:
John 1:14 And the Word was made 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.
Man is morally depraved and incapable of pleasing God through works:
Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Man is spiritually dead and separated from God by sin: 
Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.
Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
All men are born in sin and born spiritually blind and enemies of God:
Romans 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Man is destined to stand before God and to receive judgement for sins:
Revelation 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Hell was NOT created for man, but for the angels who sinned:
2 Peter 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
When you die in your sin there is only one judgement:
Revelation 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
Mark 9:44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
Satan desires to lead all men into the same punishment that he is destined for:
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
Only the blood of Christ can restore the broken relationship between man and God:
Romans 5:10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
Salvation cannot be earned, but you must accept it to receive it:
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
When you have Jesus you have an advocate to plead your case before the Lord:
1 John 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for [the sins of] the whole world.
Once you accept Christ the process of repentance begins and it is the Holy Spirit who begins it within you and it is He who shall finish it:
Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
God has predestined us, but this does not mean that we have no free will.
 
What predestination means is that God has had a plan for us all since before time began. It is His will that we should walk in that perfect plan for our lives, but because of our own will we do stray from God's will.

God's predestined path for us is not something that we are forced to follow and so it does not mean that everything we do (good and bad) was God's predestined will for us. His will for us is for us to be completely obedient to Him and for us to walk in His perfect will, but we do not.
 
If we are in Christ, then there is no more eternal condemnation:
Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Romans 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
 
This does not mean you will no longer sin:
1 John 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
And:
1 John 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

1 John is addressing people who have already received Christ. 

If you truly know Christ and Christ is within you, then you will follow Christ rather than following sin. 

Nevertheless, Christians do become ensnared in sin and for that there is always consequence:

1 Corinthians 5:1 It is reported commonly [that there is] fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. 2  And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. 3  For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, [concerning] him that hath so done this deed, 4  In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5  To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
Here Paul refers to a member of the church who was engaged in fornication. Paul states that the person should be turned over to Satan for destruction of the flesh, but not that salvation would be lost. God chastises the Christian to work repentance. 

Not all church members are truly in Christ, as 1 John makes clear:

1 John 2:18   Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. 19  They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would [no doubt] have continued with us: but [they went out], that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

No true Christian should ever let their Christian life slip into such an advanced state of decay. Still, it does happen. If they are truly in Christ, then God will deal with them to bring them to repentance.

There are two kinds of hearts
 
Those who acknowledge their need for a savior:
Acts 2: 36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. 37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
And those who are too proud:
Acts 5:30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. 31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him. 33 When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.
In these two cases above Peter and then Steven are addressing fellow Jews. They are imploring Jews to repent of their unbelief in Christ.

Do you have an Acts 2 heart or do you have an Acts 5 heart?
 
The mystery of salvation and the need for it is deeper than the deepest mysteries of the universe.

Those who mock are truly foolish. Rather than trying to make sense of salvation, just accept Christ by faith.
 
Humble yourself before Him and admit your weakness and utter wretchedness before the Holy God. Ask Him to forgive you and begin your new life following Jesus. 

It is God's desire to reconcile all of us unto Himself. I cannot explain why God has designed salvation the way He has any more than I can explain how He constructed time and space. Consider that.

Modern man has been made proud by unbelief.

Modern man thinks himself a god, when he is fragile and his life fleeting.

You shall stand before the almighty God one day and give an account for yourself.
 
You will have no defense once you have rejected Jesus Christ. 
 
Those of us who have accepted Christ can fall away from God if we stop talking with him and studying his word. In time we may begin to doubt God and our own salvation. The farther we get from God the deeper we fall into unbelief. 
 
We are told to help each other stay on the path that Jesus has set for us:
Hebrews 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Before you go too far, think back to the time when you first received Christ. Once again, right then, at that very moment you need to stop and get down on your knees and ask God to forgive you. Humble yourself immediately. I know it may be difficult. I know that pride creeps in and unbelief rises up. But it is important to maintain a spirit of humility and sorrow for our sin.