I can't believe it's been almost a month since I've written a blog. Sorry to any of you who enjoy reading what I write. :)
I am working on reading all the red letters of the Bible, the things Jesus said. I actually have never done that before, just read through all the words of Jesus. I am noticing some things that I thought I would write about.
There are some seeming contradictions in the Bible. I have looked into this before with the once saved always saved notion vs. can salvation be lost. There is Ephesians 1:13 that says "you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." It would be good though to know what the original
Greek word was and if "sealed" is the best word for that.
But then you have phrases Paul uses of some people in the early church "making shipwreck of the faith" or being "fallen from grace" or some "wandered from faith" due to a love of money. Those all seem to say someone can walk away from the faith and so loose their salvation. And now reading in Matthew 5:13 Jesus said, "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot." How can we as Christians loose our saltiness? Does that mean becoming unsaved because maybe we become lukewarm because maybe we start to love money more than God? Then 1 Tim. 6:10 could come true still today, "Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs."
So does being sealed by the Holy Spirit contradict that some can wander from the faith? Not if the issue is, was the person ever saved to begin with. As Jesus said, "Many will say to me on that day Lord....But I will reply 'turn away from me for I Never knew you." So many will think and now think they were/are in the faith but truly were/are not.
The key is that If we remain faithful to God then we can know we are in the faith and if we do not we never were? That is a mystery somewhat about the Bible and faith. The point of those verses though is to remind us to not get too arrogant and lazy. Romans 11:19-21 says, "You will say then, 'Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.' 20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either." Does that mean that if we loose our faith God will cut us off? I think so. Is that meant to strike fear into us? Well Paul does say "tremble" and there is the verse, "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Some fear is healthy because it keeps us from doing things like running in front of cars and therefore dying. The same could be said for our faith, a FEAR OF SIN is probably very important so that we won't make shipwreck of our faith. THE PROBLEM IN THE CHURCH TODAY IS THAT WE HAVE A SERIOUS LACK OF FEAR REGARDING SIN. If we do not fear sin we won't think too much about committing sin. But what did Jesus say? Mt. 5: 28-30, "If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell." Does this also apply to the Christian? It would seem so. We don't want to get into extreme legalism, but we do need to have this much of a fear of sin. If salt looses it's saltiness? Then what? It will be trampled on, which is a nice way of Jesus referring to hell, unfortunately.
In college reading the Bible a lot I noticed all the "If's" in the Bible. There are verses like, If you continue in faith you will be saved. But what if we don't? The story of the prodigal son I think represents a Christian who walks away from the faith and goes back into the world, fulfilling the lusts of the eyes and flesh. What if that person dies when they were away from the faith? Would they go to heaven or hell? Most likely hell. It is a harsh reality but it is good to tell ourselves the truth on this or we will get too comfortable. We will think we can get away with murder as a Christians but what did Paul say, "God will not be mocked, a man reaps what he sows." "If we sow to the flesh we WILL reap destruction." Even as a Christian? Yes, even as a Christian.
How can we loose our faith or reap destruction? One example is what Paul says, when we start to love money more than God, when we put our faith in money more than God. That is why Jesus said, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven." Why? Because the more rich we are, the more our focus can be on money; what to do with it, how to spend it etc. and not on God. But our thoughts and focus should always be on God. I am not very good with this myself. Lately my focus has been too much on money and things I want to buy and that might be why I have been writing less. Pray for me on that please. :) Thank you :)
So the take away on all this is don't worry too much to the point of depression, but don't get lazy in your faith either and how you view sin. Sin is serious. We need to not sin as much as possible and it is important to have a fear of sin and it's consequences. Children fearing their parent's anger causes them to do the right thing. It is the same with God. If we have a healthy fear of God's anger and his hatred for sin, we will live better lives and so ensure our salvation. When we loose that fear, that is when we are in trouble. "The fear of the Lord (and what God says about sin) is the beginning of wisdom." Be wise, maintain a healthy fear/respect for God and a hatred for sin.
May God bless you all! :)
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