RJ
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- Jun 1, 2009
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This is the season of Thanksgiving. We all should be thankful for all our blessings: family, friends, health, etc.. But, as with our founding Pilgrims, we should be mindful of what is truly important to be thankful for and that is God’s Grace.
In our religious faith of Christianity we (Man) has created many denominations to express our view of what Christianity is to us. We have created the Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Methodist and all the rest. You will see none of that in the bible.
I am a member of a Presbyterian church and I love it and the people in it. But, like anything that man has a part in its development, it is flawed. We all have strayed from the original text of the bible. Every denomination, in their own way, has continued to stray away from the basic “Truth” that Jesus taught. And this truth, that sets Men free, is what Thanksgiving should be all about :
Be thankful for God’s Grace. And without watering it down or spreading it out to be more basic that it is, this is the grace that Jesus and the scriptures talk about.
Jesus said (paraphrasing): “You are saved by faith (belief) in Grace and not by your own works”. And what grace is this? It is the grace that God has said is a gift and is free. If it is free and a gift, then there is nothing you can do to earn it. And this gift, this God’s Grace is what St. Paul said is the “gospel” that he has preached. Not the spread out gospel, watered down definitions that man continues to create. This is the gospel that St. Paul preached that we should be mindful of and thankful this season.
St. Paul said (paraphrasing): “ This is the gospel that I have preached, the death , burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ”.
·Death
Jesus died on the cross for our sins, reconciling us to God and that He would look at our sins no more. We are born reconciled to God, we are born forgiven, and there no other requirement we must do to get forgiveness. In Christ you do not get forgiven, in Christ you are forgiven
·Burial
This is the proof of Jesus death. Every will or contract that man makes to “his” heirs is not in force until his death. Jesus burial is the enactment, or putting in force of God’s final contract with man. Those who are saved, “born again” are God’s children and heirs to all of Jesus Christ’s inheritance.
·Resurrection
This is where” the rubber meets the road”. The cross forgives but, St. Paul said that if we do not receive and believe in the resurrection of Christ, we are to be pitied of all men. We are not born again at the cross, we are born again through the resurrected life of Jesus Christ. It is through the miracle of receiving Christ’s life in you that you are saved and have eternal life. Jesus said (paraphrasing): “ I stand at the door and knock, who ever opens the door, I will enter and sup with him”.
Have you gone beyond the cross, have you opened the door of your heart and received Christ’s resurrected life? During this thanksgiving season, be thankful for what is truly of the most importance, be thankful for the gospel that St. Paul preached about.
God Bless!
In our religious faith of Christianity we (Man) has created many denominations to express our view of what Christianity is to us. We have created the Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Methodist and all the rest. You will see none of that in the bible.
I am a member of a Presbyterian church and I love it and the people in it. But, like anything that man has a part in its development, it is flawed. We all have strayed from the original text of the bible. Every denomination, in their own way, has continued to stray away from the basic “Truth” that Jesus taught. And this truth, that sets Men free, is what Thanksgiving should be all about :
Be thankful for God’s Grace. And without watering it down or spreading it out to be more basic that it is, this is the grace that Jesus and the scriptures talk about.
Jesus said (paraphrasing): “You are saved by faith (belief) in Grace and not by your own works”. And what grace is this? It is the grace that God has said is a gift and is free. If it is free and a gift, then there is nothing you can do to earn it. And this gift, this God’s Grace is what St. Paul said is the “gospel” that he has preached. Not the spread out gospel, watered down definitions that man continues to create. This is the gospel that St. Paul preached that we should be mindful of and thankful this season.
St. Paul said (paraphrasing): “ This is the gospel that I have preached, the death , burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ”.
·Death
Jesus died on the cross for our sins, reconciling us to God and that He would look at our sins no more. We are born reconciled to God, we are born forgiven, and there no other requirement we must do to get forgiveness. In Christ you do not get forgiven, in Christ you are forgiven
·Burial
This is the proof of Jesus death. Every will or contract that man makes to “his” heirs is not in force until his death. Jesus burial is the enactment, or putting in force of God’s final contract with man. Those who are saved, “born again” are God’s children and heirs to all of Jesus Christ’s inheritance.
·Resurrection
This is where” the rubber meets the road”. The cross forgives but, St. Paul said that if we do not receive and believe in the resurrection of Christ, we are to be pitied of all men. We are not born again at the cross, we are born again through the resurrected life of Jesus Christ. It is through the miracle of receiving Christ’s life in you that you are saved and have eternal life. Jesus said (paraphrasing): “ I stand at the door and knock, who ever opens the door, I will enter and sup with him”.
Have you gone beyond the cross, have you opened the door of your heart and received Christ’s resurrected life? During this thanksgiving season, be thankful for what is truly of the most importance, be thankful for the gospel that St. Paul preached about.
God Bless!
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