RJ
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"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of your own doing, it is a gift of God--" EPH 2:8 RSV
God's grace ,as defined by man, takes own many forms: His unconditional love and compassion to name a couple but, in the above verse from Ephisians, it means something more specific.
This is the grace that saves specifically, and it is the gospel that St. Paul said that he preached.
St. Paul refered to the gospel as the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and nothing more, not baptism, not speaking in toungues and not 1 John 1:9.
The death, the cross was God forgiving man for his inherited sinful nature. He told us that Jesus death was for the forgiveness of sins, reconciling all man unto Himself, never to look upoun man's sin again. My friend, though born sinful, we were all born reconciled or forgiven unto God. That is the finality of the cross , our forgiveness but, not the completion of the gospel or your salvation. In Christ you do not find forgiveness, in Christ you are forgiven!
The burial . God tells us that this gospel is part of His final convenant with man and calls it a will. And, with a will, their are heirs and before the will can be in force it requires the death of the one who the contract is drawn up on. In this case we are the heirs and the death is God himself in the form of the incarnate Jesus.
God fortold this over 750 years before it happened through the prophet Jerimiah when He said that He would give new a covenant and that He would put His law in us and write it upon our hearts.
The very millesecond that Jesus died, the Bible tells us that the curtain in the Temple was torn from top to bottom. What is the significance of this? There is three that are most important:
The resurrection. This is perhaps the most important part of the Gospel that Paul preached, for with out it, he says the cross is meaningless and we are to be pitied above all men. Jesus said (paraphrasing): " I am the vine and you are the branches, if you are in me , and I in you, you will bare much fruit, with out me you can do nothing." This is not possible with out the resurrected life of Jesus Christ. By inviting Christ into you, into your heart , seals the fnal covenant where God will put Himself into the hearts and minds of men. And a most blessed caveat, God said He will never leave.
So, the gospel that St. Paul preached: the cross that takes care of our sin problem through unconditional forgiveness, the burial that confirms the death and the resurrected life of Jesus Christ that, through the conscious recieving of, confirms our salvation for all eternity.
Jesus said (paraphrasing): " I stand at the door and knock, whoever opens the door, I will enter and sup with him".
For thirty years of church life, I knew of God and knew of Jesus. But, not until I did my due diligence and opened the door of my heart, Spirit and soul and invited His resurrected life in , did I truly know God and know Jesus Christ!
Are you a beliver? Have you invited him in?
God's grace ,as defined by man, takes own many forms: His unconditional love and compassion to name a couple but, in the above verse from Ephisians, it means something more specific.
This is the grace that saves specifically, and it is the gospel that St. Paul said that he preached.
St. Paul refered to the gospel as the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and nothing more, not baptism, not speaking in toungues and not 1 John 1:9.
The death, the cross was God forgiving man for his inherited sinful nature. He told us that Jesus death was for the forgiveness of sins, reconciling all man unto Himself, never to look upoun man's sin again. My friend, though born sinful, we were all born reconciled or forgiven unto God. That is the finality of the cross , our forgiveness but, not the completion of the gospel or your salvation. In Christ you do not find forgiveness, in Christ you are forgiven!
The burial . God tells us that this gospel is part of His final convenant with man and calls it a will. And, with a will, their are heirs and before the will can be in force it requires the death of the one who the contract is drawn up on. In this case we are the heirs and the death is God himself in the form of the incarnate Jesus.
God fortold this over 750 years before it happened through the prophet Jerimiah when He said that He would give new a covenant and that He would put His law in us and write it upon our hearts.
The very millesecond that Jesus died, the Bible tells us that the curtain in the Temple was torn from top to bottom. What is the significance of this? There is three that are most important:
- This was the curtain that seperated man from the "Holy of Hollies" in the Temple. This is where God resided and only for the High Priest to witness. Once torn, it signified that ever man could look in to no avail, because God was gone.
- The curtain measured 90 ft tall, the tearing from top to bottom signified that only God could have done this.
- And finally, the tearing of the curtain and God's abscents is the ushering in of the new covenant and be fnalized by the resurrected life Jesu Christ himself.
The resurrection. This is perhaps the most important part of the Gospel that Paul preached, for with out it, he says the cross is meaningless and we are to be pitied above all men. Jesus said (paraphrasing): " I am the vine and you are the branches, if you are in me , and I in you, you will bare much fruit, with out me you can do nothing." This is not possible with out the resurrected life of Jesus Christ. By inviting Christ into you, into your heart , seals the fnal covenant where God will put Himself into the hearts and minds of men. And a most blessed caveat, God said He will never leave.
So, the gospel that St. Paul preached: the cross that takes care of our sin problem through unconditional forgiveness, the burial that confirms the death and the resurrected life of Jesus Christ that, through the conscious recieving of, confirms our salvation for all eternity.
Jesus said (paraphrasing): " I stand at the door and knock, whoever opens the door, I will enter and sup with him".
For thirty years of church life, I knew of God and knew of Jesus. But, not until I did my due diligence and opened the door of my heart, Spirit and soul and invited His resurrected life in , did I truly know God and know Jesus Christ!
Are you a beliver? Have you invited him in?
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