Category Archives: Spiritual Guidance

How to find salvation and forgiveness through Jesus Christ

The Bible versions used are as indicated with each quote.

Luke 5:20 (NKJV): When He [Jesus] saw their faith, He said to him, “…your sins are forgiven you.”

Our Problem We are all sinners because we are all born into the human race. Because of Adam’s disobedience, sin came into the world. The punishment for sin is death.

Romans 5:12 (NLT): When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.

God’s Solution Though we were undeserving sinners, God sent Jesus Christ to reconcile us back to God. He died in your place, taking the death penalty for the sin of all mankind. Because of His death, we can be justified when we accept Jesus and the work He did for us.

Romans 3:23-24 (MSG:  Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.

Another version reads this way as per Romans 3:23-24 (NKJV):…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption [paying of your sin-debt ie. death] that is in Christ Jesus…

God’s undeserved gift is eternal life, when we unite with Jesus. Yes, the reward is ETERNAL LIFE. That means you get to live forever and your soul never dies, because you are now free from the final soul death of sinners.

Romans 6:23  (NIV): For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in [union with] Christ Jesus our Lord.

God loves you, just as a father and mother love their children even when they misbehave (while still sinners). He proved His love and demonstrated it when Christ, His own Son, died on the cross to reconcile you to God. Christ agreed with the father long ago that it was necessary (to get the attention of mankind) that He pay the price and get us out of the sin-then-death mess. If our hearts could be moved to love God, by seeing love in action through Jesus, God knew we could respond with reciprocal love and commit our lives to God. God and Jesus, presented a true action-hero story based on proven history—a real life story—in order to move our hearts.

Jesus lived while forgiving, loving, healing, and raising the dead. He was crucified for being gentle, kind, and good. His death awakened mankind’s sinful hearts to understand two things: the recognition of what man can do as a sinner—unspeakable betrayal; and it inspires an impassioned love for God, who gave His own Son to die your death. God planned the whole thing—he knows we acknowledge love stories—He did it to save you! The cross of Christ is the greatest expression of love, despite betrayal. Millions follow Him because of this.

Romans 5:8 (NIV): But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

He put His love on the line, even though many would not love God in return.

Romans 5:8 (MSG): But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the Good News of God to man. By believing in Jesus Christ and what He did for you, and that He died and was raised—you can be saved, and the gift is eternal life.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 (NLT): Now let me remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then and still do now, for your faith is built on this wonderful message. And it is this Good News that saves you if you firmly believe it–unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place. I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me–that Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, as the Scriptures said.

Many view God as the judge who just wants to create hard rules to follow. Not so. Here we see that God’s intention is not to find fault and condemn us, but to save the world (make it right with God) through Jesus, His Son.

John 3:17 (NIV): For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

It may help to read the above Scripture in other versions.

John 3:17 (MSG): God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.

John 3:17 (AMP): For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge (to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him.

The two choices are clear. If Jesus isn’t accepted as your Saviour; and His death does not cover you as the price paid for sin, then the death penalty for sin remains for you to pay. Believe in and trust Jesus, it’s that simple to win eternal life.

John 3:36 (NIV): Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see [eternal] life, for God’s wrath remains on him.”

Again, we only need to affirm our belief in Jesus to be saved from the death penalty.

John 3:16 (NASB): For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Do you want to receive Jesus as YOUR SAVIOUR and live for eternity? If you want Him to SAVE YOU RIGHT NOW (just pray the prayer at the end of this article), just believe in the name of Jesus as your Saviour. Then you will be referred to as a child of God—that is our right.

John 1:12 (MSG): But whoever did want him, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said, He made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves.

Here it is expressed in another version. John 1:12(NKJV): But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.

You can’t work your way to heaven just by doing good works, or by being extra good.

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NLT): God saved you by his special favour when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

Jesus is proactive when it comes to saving you. He is patiently waiting at the door of your heart; He gently knocks on your heart’s door as a gracious friend. Dining indicates intimacy; Jesus views His relationship with us as our “friend”. He is trying to get you to also hear His voice, so you will open up to Him.

Revelation 3:20 (NIV): Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

We believe with our heart, not our head. When we accept Jesus, we confess Him as our Saviour without shame. Then we are saved, and have eternal life.

Romans 10:8-10 (NASB): …if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

The following version expands on this to indicate that believing in Jesus means you trust Him to save you. In doing so, you are found acceptable to God. It is that simple! Romans 10:8-10 (AMP): For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation.

If you can trust Jesus to save you, that is all you need! Salvation is within easy reach.

Romans 10:8-10 (NLT): Salvation that comes from trusting Christ–which is the message we preach–is already within easy reach. In fact, the Scriptures say, “The message is close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.”

Once again, here is how we gain salvation in Christ. Romans 10:9: For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.

By acknowledging Jesus, He goes to work to acknowledge you as saved, to God His Father. That is amazing—your “in” with God.

Matthew 10:32 (NIV): Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.

You can only have eternal life through Jesus. No minister, pastor or pope can give you salvation; you only are saved by faith in Jesus Christ. It is a promise.

1 John 5:11-13 (NIV): And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Take God’s Solution—Why wait?

Pray this prayer to accept Jesus and His Salvation—today. Jesus tells us that today is the day of salvation. And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house…” Luke 19:9

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I confess that I am an undeserving sinner, like everyone, born to die. I accept you Jesus and acknowledge that you paid the price for my sin when you died on the cross; and I know you were resurrected and still live. I also know that I now have eternal life. I accept your free gift of Salvation—Thank You Lord. Help me to live up to my faith, through the power of your Holy Spirit.

What’s Next? Look for a good church. Read the Bible, especially the New Testament daily. Find Christian friends. Start going to church.

Marcus Aurelius: Awed by the Supremacy of Christ

Studying history I came upon: The Epistle of Marcus Aurelius to the Senate, in Which He Testifies that the Christians Were the Cause of His Victory. I have noticed reading the works of Aurelius over the years an absolute belief moment by moment that nothing occurs without the intervention of God, which he refers often as Divine Providence. It makes sense that he went down in history as one the most revered Caesars of Rome. Here is a quote emphasizing his faith reckoning that there is a divine cause working the ordering of life:

There are three types of relationships: the one to the body which surrounds you; the second to the divine cause from which all things come to all; and the third to those who live with you. 1

Another longer quote from The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius reveals his understanding of the power of the Spirit to govern all events in life:

All things are implicated with one another, and the bond is holy; there is hardly anything unconnected with any other things. For things have been coordinated, and they combine to make up the same universe. For there is one universe made up of all things, and one God who pervades all things, and one substance, and one law, and one reason. 2

Aurelius recounts being in need of divine assistance and notes the faith of Christians to which he turns as they pray:

The Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Germanicus, Parthicus, Sarmaticus, to the People of Rome, and to the sacred Senate greeting: I explained to you my grand design, and what advantages I gained on the confines of Germany, with much labour and suffering, in consequence of the circumstance that I was surrounded by the enemy; I myself being shut up in Carnuntum by seventy-four cohorts, nine miles off.

And the enemy being at hand, the scouts pointed out to us, and our general Pompeianus showed us that there was close on us a mass of a mixed multitude of, men, which indeed we saw; and I was shut up by this vast host, having with me only a battalion composed of the first, tenth, double and marine legions. Having then examined my own position, and my host, with respect to the vast mass of barbarians and of the enemy, I quickly betook myself to prayer to the gods of my country. But being disregarded by them, I summoned those who among us go by the name of Christians.

And having made inquiry, I discovered a great number and vast host of them, and raged against them, which was by no means becoming; for afterwards I learned their power. Wherefore they began the battle, not by preparing weapons, nor arms, nor bugles; for such preparation is hateful to them, on account of the God they bear about in their conscience. Therefore it is probable that those whom we suppose to be atheists, have God as their ruling power entrenched in their conscience. For having cast themselves on the ground, they prayed not only for me but also for the whole army as it stood, that they might be delivered from the present thirst and famine. 3

Notice how Marcus Aurelius emphasizes the majesty of the Christian’s God:

For during five days we had got no water because there was none; for we were in the heart of Germany and in the enemy’s territory.

And simultaneously with their casting themselves on the ground, and praying to God (a God of whom I am ignorant), water poured from heaven, upon us most refreshingly cool, but upon the enemies of Rome a withering hail. And immediately we recognized the presence of God following on the prayer — a God unconquerable and indestructible. 4

Here Aurelius notes that no one is to take the Christian’s God for granted or despise Him for fear of retribution: “Founding upon this, then, let us pardon such as are Christians, lest they pray for and obtain such a weapon against ourselves. And I counsel that no such person be accused on the ground of his being a Christian”. Further, he legislates a law in the Senate on the behalf of Christians to protect them, honours their God and the individual’s conscience in the freedom to worship Him freely — the beginning of the legislation of Religious Liberty handed down to the best democratic nations:

But if anyone be found laying to the charge of a Christian that he is a Christian, I desire that it be made manifest that he who is accused as a Christian, and acknowledges that he is one, is accused of nothing else than only this, that he is a Christian; but that he who arraigns him be burned alive. And I further desire, that he who is entrusted with the government of the province shall not compel the Christian, who confesses and certifies such a matter, to retract; neither shall he commit him. And I desire that these things be confirmed by a decree of the Senate. 

Further text is excerpted from the History recorded by Justin Martyr indicating that an edict goes out to enact the above legislation:

And I command this my edict to be published in the Forum of Trajan, in order that it may be read. The perfect Vitrasius Pollio will see that it be transmitted to all the provinces round about and that no one who wishes to make use of or to possess it to be hindered from obtaining a copy from the document I now publish. 6

1 Meditations of Marcus Aurelius

2 Ibid

Justin Martyr, History. Text emphasis by myself.

Ibid

Ibid

Ibid

Cutting the ties of darkness that bind you

“Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?” (2 Corinthians 6:14-15 NLT)

Dr. Henry Cloud wrote a piece for Success magazine 10 Things Successful People Never Do Again predicated on the idea that we have to change to progress. We must allow ourselves some pretty radical changes if we are to evolve in our life-journey. The Holy Spirit will lead us into the destiny that God is guiding us to in our distinct lives according to His higher values.

Chose your yoke-fellows wisely. The Scripture commands all Christians not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers? This scripture applies to marriage, business partnership, and church alignment. Paul offers profound insights into relationships. He writes out of both love and pain, about severing relationships and mending them. He writes in a way that is decidedly centered on God, as seen in the person of Christ. Paul is humble and meek; he is bold and adamant. Moses made it clear to the Israelites that ungodly influence can lead God’s people astray: “Be very careful never to make a treaty with the people who live in the land where you are going. If you do, you will follow their evil ways and be trapped…for the LORD…is a God who is jealous about his relationship with you” (Exodus 34:12-14 NLT)

Why is it important to cut your ties with darkness? When Paul says, “Do not be unequally yoked,” he means first, that we should not associate with believers who don’t actually live for Jesus, and second, that engaging in any intimate relationship or partnership with someone who does not let Jesus be the center of their lives will ultimately lead to our demise. We must cut ties with whatever or whoever leads us to darkness. Influence can be subtly corrupting. “For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. “Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord…and, “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:16-18 NIV)

Wasn’t Jesus loving? Christ engaged with people who didn’t understand who He was while on earth, to reach out to people and reveal the love of God. Nevertheless, He didn’t want to see relationships with unbelievers lead His followers into darkness. The Corinthian believers were to change the world, not to be changed by it. Paul wanted to see the Corinthian believers separate from their old way of living and fully embrace the ways of Jesus. Thus, his question which applies to all Christians today: How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?

Kindness versus close or intimate relations with non-believers must be understood in context. For more depth on this subject read Influencing others for Christ.

But this is complicated. False teachers and leaders are even within the church; old friends can turn on you and become your enemies, and there are broken relationships among the followers of our Lord. There may be things in the Bible that are very clear to one following the Lord closely adhering to the Word, to form correct doctrine while desiring to live according to Sola Scriptura. Within the church, some follow a man or a woman, who some may feel they have prophetic insight (who may say or write: “God told me” or “my angel said”). However, we must follow only the Lord’s teaching found in the Word of God and never follow a teaching that the Bible does not condone.

Consider that the educated doctorates of Israel did not believe the teachings of Jesus though He was their Messiah. The scripture regarding cutting our ties with darkness was written by Paul of Tarsus to the Corinthians. Paul had been one of the leading Pharisees (named Saul). He was a leading doctorate student taught by Dr. Gamaliel. He turned from the darkness of twisting scripture to follow Jesus Christ as did the Pharisee Nicodemus.

Jesus Teaches in the Synogogue