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M
We are all under some sort of higher authority.
When a person comes to salvation, they are transported from the kingdom of
darkness and the authority of Satan, into the kingdom of light and the authority of Jesus.
They are saved from spiritual death in the here and now and from eternal death in the future.
Saved people have an advocate, a councillor, an almighty God on their side, an everlasting
Father. Saved people are precious in the eyes of God, they have access to the one who heals
their emotional pain if they let Him. They have access to the only one who is able to wipe all
tears from their eyes.
Ultimatley all we can do it spread the gospel and leave the rest to the Holy Spirit.
We know there is a difference, unsaved people don't know it until they experience
it for themselves.
One of the best ways to explain it to an unsaved people is to tell them your own testimony.
When a person comes to salvation, they are transported from the kingdom of
darkness and the authority of Satan, into the kingdom of light and the authority of Jesus.
They are saved from spiritual death in the here and now and from eternal death in the future.
Saved people have an advocate, a councillor, an almighty God on their side, an everlasting
Father. Saved people are precious in the eyes of God, they have access to the one who heals
their emotional pain if they let Him. They have access to the only one who is able to wipe all
tears from their eyes.
Ultimatley all we can do it spread the gospel and leave the rest to the Holy Spirit.
We know there is a difference, unsaved people don't know it until they experience
it for themselves.
One of the best ways to explain it to an unsaved people is to tell them your own testimony.
Who? Jesus, God incarnate.
What? Jesus did on the cross to take your sins upon Himself so that you could receive forgiveness of sin and live eternally.
When? Over 2000 years ago.
Where? In Jerusalem at Calvary.
Why? Because God so loved the world, He wanted to restore mankind back to Himself because sins separate us from God.
How? Repent and be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins and you'll receive the Holy Spirit
What? Jesus did on the cross to take your sins upon Himself so that you could receive forgiveness of sin and live eternally.
When? Over 2000 years ago.
Where? In Jerusalem at Calvary.
Why? Because God so loved the world, He wanted to restore mankind back to Himself because sins separate us from God.
How? Repent and be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins and you'll receive the Holy Spirit
I have always thought, it is odd one only shows love to sinners, or they are the
target of ones efforts.
Jesus spent most of His time with His disciples, teaching them and leading them.
So most of our effort is actually on the body of Christ, and how to help and encourage
one another. If the body is a vibrant place then it is a good place into which to call
people to come.
target of ones efforts.
Jesus spent most of His time with His disciples, teaching them and leading them.
So most of our effort is actually on the body of Christ, and how to help and encourage
one another. If the body is a vibrant place then it is a good place into which to call
people to come.
D
Wouldn't someone ask them If they are saved?
And, according to what they want it to mean, they think they're right. They think they get heaven forever... whether God is or isn't.
Exactly, why I asked.
D
Being astute, didn't already notice you were alive to be astute?
What in the world did "dead in sin and trespasses" mean to you back then? What did "Life that Jesus alone has" mean to you back then?
(And, don't take this personally. So many are sure they've answered it and that's enough. I'm asking you because you quickly surmised I didn't get what you said the first time, so you, like me, are still trying. That's a good thing.)
What in the world did "dead in sin and trespasses" mean to you back then? What did "Life that Jesus alone has" mean to you back then?
(And, don't take this personally. So many are sure they've answered it and that's enough. I'm asking you because you quickly surmised I didn't get what you said the first time, so you, like me, are still trying. That's a good thing.
)
F
Being astute, didn't already notice you were alive to be astute?
What in the world did "dead in sin and trespasses" mean to you back then? What did "Life that Jesus alone has" mean to you back then?
(And, don't take this personally. So many are sure they've answered it and that's enough. I'm asking you because you quickly surmised I didn't get what you said the first time, so you, like me, are still trying. That's a good thing.)
What in the world did "dead in sin and trespasses" mean to you back then? What did "Life that Jesus alone has" mean to you back then?
(And, don't take this personally. So many are sure they've answered it and that's enough. I'm asking you because you quickly surmised I didn't get what you said the first time, so you, like me, are still trying. That's a good thing.
)
Most people, including many who consider themselves Christians, think that it is all about the good and the bad. That if the good in their lives outweighs the bad not only will God accept them, He will have to accept them. Because, after all, it's only fair. But a good dead person is just as dead as a bad dead person.
D
I'm not getting what I thought I'd get for answers. Clearly, this is a failure to communicate on my part. So, I'm going to answer my question the way I see it to see if anyone else gets an "Ooooooooooooooo that's what she meant all along" moment.
As I see it, I am beyond redemption. A prisoner on death row with no chance of getting a reduced sentence or pardon. And I deserve it because I have broken the law so often, I really can't change my personality to go on the straight-and-narrow. I'm utterly hopeless. And I'm weighed down by the weight of the laws I broke. (sin.)
Then Jesus came along, and gave me one fantastic loophole -- he took on the punishment I deserve.
Done deal. Already happened, so I couldn't even consent, although frankly, what else would I do?
BUT, that's not the whole deal. ("Wait! There's more.") Not only did he take on that death sentence I most certainly deserved, but he gave me that one thing I needed to stop being the crummy, depraved, good-for-nothing boil on society's back side. He changed my personality. He's making me more like him. The kind of guy who would walk into Death Row and love my kind of people.
Now, just like an abandoned dog, it really does take some time to go from old mindset to new mindset. I'm not as sparkly-pretty as he will make me in the long run, but I know he's going to do the washing and scrubbing required to make me sparkly clean. He's doing the work. I'm accepting it.
And at the end, he will make me become who I was always supposed to become -- a sparkly-shining being worshiping him and enjoying him forever.
So... he saved me from being a repugnant, useless boil on the butt of society, to become his sister, sparkly and pretty, to spend eternity with him. Saved from and into.
I so totally deserve Death Row. He saved me from that. AND, if that weren't enough he brought me to eternity in him.
That's what I've been trying to get at (and failing miserably.) What does Jesus save us from and bring us to?
As I see it, I am beyond redemption. A prisoner on death row with no chance of getting a reduced sentence or pardon. And I deserve it because I have broken the law so often, I really can't change my personality to go on the straight-and-narrow. I'm utterly hopeless. And I'm weighed down by the weight of the laws I broke. (sin.)
Then Jesus came along, and gave me one fantastic loophole -- he took on the punishment I deserve.
Done deal. Already happened, so I couldn't even consent, although frankly, what else would I do?
BUT, that's not the whole deal. ("Wait! There's more.") Not only did he take on that death sentence I most certainly deserved, but he gave me that one thing I needed to stop being the crummy, depraved, good-for-nothing boil on society's back side. He changed my personality. He's making me more like him. The kind of guy who would walk into Death Row and love my kind of people.
Now, just like an abandoned dog, it really does take some time to go from old mindset to new mindset. I'm not as sparkly-pretty as he will make me in the long run, but I know he's going to do the washing and scrubbing required to make me sparkly clean. He's doing the work. I'm accepting it.
And at the end, he will make me become who I was always supposed to become -- a sparkly-shining being worshiping him and enjoying him forever.
So... he saved me from being a repugnant, useless boil on the butt of society, to become his sister, sparkly and pretty, to spend eternity with him. Saved from and into.
I so totally deserve Death Row. He saved me from that. AND, if that weren't enough he brought me to eternity in him.
That's what I've been trying to get at (and failing miserably.) What does Jesus save us from and bring us to?
