GENESIS 13:13 "NOW THE MEN OF SODOM WERE WICKED AND WERE SINNING GREATLY AGAINST THE LORD." GENESIS 19:12-13 "THE TWO MEN SAID TO LOT, 'DO YOU HAVE ANYONE ELSE HERE—SONS-IN-LAW, SONS OR DAUGHTERS, OR ANYONE ELSE IN THE CITY WHO BELONGS TO YOU? GET THEM OUT OF HERE, BECAUSE WE ARE GOING TO DESTROY THIS PLACE. THE OUTCRY TO THE LORD AGAINST ITS PEOPLE IS SO GREAT THAT HE HAS SENT US TO DESTROY IT.'" GENESIS 19:14 "SO LOT WENT OUT AND SPOKE TO HIS SONS-IN-LAW, WHO WERE PLEDGED TO MARRY HIS DAUGHTERS. HE SAID, 'HURRY AND GET OUT OF THIS PLACE, BECAUSE THE LORD IS ABOUT TO DESTROY THE CITY!' BUT HIS SONS-IN-LAW THOUGHT HE WAS JOKING." GENESIS 19:15 "WITH THE COMING OF DAWN, THE ANGELS URGED LOT, SAYING, 'HURRY! TAKE YOUR WIFE AND YOUR TWO DAUGHTERS WHO ARE HERE, OR YOU WILL BE SWEPT AWAY WHEN THE CITY IS GENESIS 19:16 "WHEN HE HESITATED, THE MEN GRASPED HIS HAND AND THE HANDS OF HIS WIFE AND OF HIS TWO DAUGHTERS AND LED THEM SAFELY OUT OF THE CITY, FOR THE LORD WAS MERCIFUL TO THEM. AS SOON AS THEY HAD BROUGHT THEM OUT, ONE OF THEM SAID, 'FLEE FOR YOUR LIVES! DON'T LOOK BACK, AND DON'T STOP ANYWHERE IN THE PLAIN! FLEE TO THE MOUNTAINS OR YOU WILL BE SWEPT GENESIS 19:26 "BUT LOT'S WIFE LOOKED BACK, AND SHE BECAME A PILLAR OF SALT."
OUR LESSON GOD SAID IT! BELIEVE IT! AND DON'T LOOK BACK! I HAVE DECIDED TO FOLLOW JESUS! NO TURNING BACK! |
Friday, August 21, 2009
THE PRICE FOR LOOKING BACK!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
OBEYING THE GOSPEL: Repentence & Baptism
You must obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ in order to be born again in Jesus Christ.
| Who must obey the Gospel? 2 Thessalonians 1:4-10 4 "Therefore, among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. 5 All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. 6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you." |
| Well, what does 'Gospel' mean? Gospel means "Good News" deriving from the Old English "god-spell," translated from Greek åõáããÝëéïí (euangelion) used in the New Testament. |
| Then what is the Gospel? 1 Corinthians 15:1-5 1 "Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of FIRST IMPORTANCE: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve." |
| OK, how does one obey the Gospel? I mean, how does one obey the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ? Romans 6:3-7 3 "Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 If we have been united with Him like this in His death, we will certainly also be united with Him in His resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin — 7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin." |
| Hebrews 11:16 "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him." |
HEAR ..... [or be otherwise informed of] the Gospel
| Romans 10:17 "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ." |
BELIEVE ..... the Gospel & CONFESS ..... Jesus as Lord
| Romans 10:9 "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." |
REPENT ..... of all your sins
| Luke 13:3 "I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish." |
Then ..... Be BURIED in WATER BAPTISM
| John 3:3-5 In reply Jesus declared, 3 "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." 4 "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" 5 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit." |
| Acts 2:38 3 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." |
| Titus 3:3-6 3 "At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit 6 whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior ..." |
| 1 Peter 3:18-22 18 For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, 19 through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison 20 who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, 21 and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also — not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand —with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him." |
| Mark 16:15-16 15 Jesus said to them,"Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." |
If one does not believe the Good News, What point is there in obeying the Good News? That person, as the Scripture teaches, is condemned! |
realize this:
| 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 9 "Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." |
| What initially makes us no longer wicked; what initially makes us no longer guilty of being sexually immoral, or an idolater, or an adulterer, or a male/female prostitute, or a homosexual offender, or a thief, or a greedy person, or an alcoholic, or a slanderer, or a swindler, or any other sinful type is the fact that we've repented of our sins and have been washed - buried in water baptism in the name of Jesus! |
realize this:
| Galatians 3:26-27 26 "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." |
| When you are baptized (buried) into Christ you become clothed with or in Christ. If you are not baptized into Christ you do NOT have Him on ... you are naked, still in your sins, unclothed, unsaved, unforgiven. |
realize this:
| Colossians 2:11-12
11 "In Him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12 having been buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him through your faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead." |
| When you are baptized (buried) with or into Christ you undergo a circumcision. It is not the circumcision done by a physician, the cutting away of foreskin from the penis as it was for the male Israelites. It is not even the removal of dirt from the physical body [1 Peter 3:21]. No, it is the cutting away of sin from your soul done by Christ while you are buried in the water; and being raised up out of the water afterward through faith in and the pledge of a good conscience toward God who raised Jesus Christ up from the dead when He was lying buried in rock within the tomb. If you do not receive this circumcision your sin remains; you are unsaved. |
realize this:
| Revelation 1:5 "To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood ..." |
Therefore, the water of baptism represents His blood where we receive forgiveness of our sins. It is His blood that cleanses us, yet this cleansing takes place in the water! |
(IN CHRIST JESUS)
UNTIL YOUR DEATH!
... Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. |
Click here to find out: What did the early church believe about how to become born again?
Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on His name."
Undenominational Christianity
- An explanation
Undenominational Christianity
- Like it was in the Bible
LIKE IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE IN EDEN
WRITTEN IN APRIL 2007
| IN LIGHT OF THE RECENT VIRGINIA TECH TRAGEDY, THE DEADLIEST SHOOTING IN U.S. HISTORY, WHERE 32 PEOPLE WERE MURDERED; AND THE BLOODIEST DAY IN BAGHDAD IN QUITE SOME TIME WHERE 183 PEOPLE WERE KILLED IN 4 SEPARATE BOMB ATTACKS - I'VE JUST BEEN MEDITATING ON WHAT GOD HAD PLANNED FOR US IN EDEN, AND HOW IN ONE FELL SWOOP IT ALL WENT TERRIBLY AND IRRETRIEVABLY WRONG!
SOME PEOPLE ASK, "WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO?" SOME SAY, "THE WORLD'S GONE CRAZY!" SOME SAY, "THE WORLD'S NOT AS SAFE AS IT USED TO BE!" AND STILL OTHERS SAY, "I WISH FOR THE GOOD OLE DAYS." MY RESPONSE WOULD BE THAT THE WORLD HAS BEEN CRAZY FROM THE BEGINNING! THE WORLD HAS NEVER BEEN A SAFE PLACE TO LIVE EXCEPT FOR THE TIME WHEN ADAM AND EVE LIVED IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN WITH GOD. WHEN GOD CREATED THE WORLD AND THEN ADAM AND EVE, HE CREATED IT AND THEM TO LIVE FOREVER IN PEACE AND HARMONY WITH EVERY LIVING ORGANISM ON THE PLANET. MAN HAD NO INKLING WHAT EVIL WAS, NOR WAS HE EVER SUPPOSED TO KNOW. THE PLANET WAS PRISTINE, FOOD WAS PLENTIFUL, THERE WAS NO POLLUTION, AND SUCH CONDITIONS AS DISEASE, HANDICAPS, DECEIT, HATRED, PAIN, CRIME, EARTHQUAKES, PESTILENCE, AND GLOBAL WARMING DID NOT EXIST. EDEN WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN A HEAVEN ON EARTH. HOWEVER GOD IMPOSED ONE LAW AND ONE LAW ONLY! ONE LAW! ONE! HE DISTINCTLY TOLD ADAM AND EVE THAT THEY COULD EAT FROM ANY TREE IN THE GARDEN EXCEPT FROM THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL. THERE WERE PROBABLY COUNTLESS TREES IN THE GARDEN, BUT THIS PARTICULAR ONE GOD DID PROHIBIT THEM TO EAT OF. FOR IF THEY DID GOD TOLD THEM IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS, "YOU WILL SURELY DIE." NOW, ADAM AND EVE HAD NO IDEA WHAT DEATH WAS. NOTHING AND NO ONE HAD EVER DIED BEFORE, SO THIS CONCEPT WAS ALIEN TO THEM. THEY KNEW THE GOOD, THEY JUST DIDN'T KNOW THE BAD. SO IF THEY ATE OF THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, THEY WOULD KNOW EVIL, AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL. AS THE BIBLE TEACHES, HAVING THIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO CAUSES PHYSICAL DEATH OF ALL MANKIND. IN HEAVEN WITH GOD THERE IS NO KNOWLEDGE OF EVIL, HENCE NO DEATH THERE. ADAM AND EVE HAD IT ALL! THEY HAD MORE THAN ANY OTHER HUMAN BEINGS HAVE EVER HAD. THEY HAD MORE RICHES, THEY HAD MORE FOOD, THEY HAD MORE LIFE - THEY HAD IT ALL! EVEN JESUS CHRIST, AS A HUMAN BEING, DID NOT PHYSICALLY HAVE AS MUCH AS THEY HAD. ENTER THE SERPENT. [THE SERPENT'S PRESENCE ALONE DID NOT EFFECT THE KNOWLEDGE OF (BETWEEN) GOOD AND EVIL.] THE SERPENT SOUGHT TO PUT DOUBT INTO THE MIND OF EVE. [PUTTING DOUBT INTO SOMEONE'S MIND CAN POTENTIALLY CAUSE DAMAGE, BUT IT BY ITSELF DOES NOT EFFECT THE KNOWLEDGE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL.] THE DEVIL ASKED EVE ABOUT THE TREE AND ITS FRUIT OF WHICH GOD SAID NOT TO EAT. [IT WAS NOT AN APPLE! THE 'FRUIT' WAS THE 'KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL'.] HE ASKED HER, "WHY CAN'T YOU EAT OF THAT TREE?" EVE TOLD SATAN WHAT GOD TOLD HER, THAT IF SHE ATE OF IT SHE WOULD SURELY DIE. SATAN LIED TO HER SAYING, "YOU WILL NOT SURELY DIE IF YOU EAT OF THAT TREE ..." THIS WAS THE FIRST LIE EVER TOLD. EVE CHANGED HER MIND. SATAN HAD EFFECTIVELY UNDONE IN EVE'S MIND THE COMMAND THAT GOD HAD IMPLANTED, BUT IT WAS NOT BECAUSE THE DEVIL HAS THAT MUCH POWER. IT WAS BECAUSE EVE ALLOWED THE DEVIL TO CAUSE HER TO DOUBT, AND SHE ALONE CHANGE HER MIND. GOD FORCES NO MAN OR WOMAN TO OBEY HIM! EVE SAW THAT THE FRUIT LOOKED DELICIOUS. IT WAS APPEALING TO HER EYES, AND DOG-GONE-IT SHE WANTED IT NO MATTER WHAT THE COST. SHE'D JUST HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE CONSEQUENCES LATER. BESIDES, SHE HAD NO IDEA WHAT DEATH WAS ANYHOW, SO WHY NOT TAKE JUST ONE BITE? ANY OF US WOULD HAVE DONE THE SAME THING. SO SHE ATE OF THE FRUIT. THEN, THOUGH THE SCRIPTURE DOES NOT SAY THIS, BUT IT IS CERTAINLY INFERRED, SHE MUST HAVE FELT GUILTY ABOUT WHAT SHE HAD DONE (A FIRST FOR THAT EMOTION FOR HER). BUT INSTEAD OF WARNING HER HUSBAND ABOUT HER DISOBEDIENCE, SHE SOUGHT THE POTENTIAL CO-CONSPIRATOR IN HIM AND ENTICED HIM TO ALSO EAT OF THE FRUIT, FOR MISERY DOES LOVE COMPANY. ONCE ADAM HAD DONE THIS THEIR EYES WERE "OPENED" FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THEIR LIVES, AND THE PROVERBIAL "PANDORA'S BOX" WAS OPENED AS WELL. NO GOING BACK! IT'S LIKE THAT CANNISTER WITH THE TOY THAT SPRINGS OUT AND ALL OVER THE PLACE WHEN YOU OPEN IT UP. FOR THE LIFE OF YOU THERE IS JUST NO WAY OF PUSHING THE TOY BACK INTO THE CANNISTER THE WAY IT WAS BEFORE YOU OPENED IT. THE DAMAGE HAD BEEN DONE. ADAM AND EVE AND EVERY LIVING ORGANISM WOULD NOW BE ON A COLLISION COURSE WITH DEATH FROM THE MOMENT OF CONCEPTION. THE FIRST HUMAN CASUALTY OF ADAM AND EVE'S DISOBEDIENCE WAS ABEL, BROTHER OF CAIN, SON OF ADAM AND EVE. HIS PARENTS HAD BEEN KICKED OUT OF THE GARDEN OF EDEN AND THE WORLD WOULD NEVER BE THE SAME. CAIN GREW JEALOUS OF ABEL, SO HE LED HIM OUT TO A FIELD, AND THERE HE STRUCK HIM DEAD. AND IT HAS BEEN GOING ON EVER SINCE! THIS HAS NEVER BEEN AN IDYLLIC WORLD. INDISCRIMINANT BLOODSHED HAS RULED THE ROOST IN MANY WAYS SINCE THE BEGINNING. WITH THE EJECTION OF ADAM AND EVE FROM EARTHLY HEAVEN CAME POLLUTION, DISEASE, HANDICAPS, DECEIT, HATRED, PAIN, MEDICATIONS, HOSPITALS, CRIME, EARTHQUAKES, HURRICANES, PESTILENCE, STRIFE, WEARINESS, SWEAT, WARS, WEAPONS, MASS MURDERS, ....... DEATH! IF IT WERE NOT FOR GOD SENDING HIS SON, JESUS, THE WORLD WOULD CONTINUE IN THIS WAY HOPELESSLY PROBABLY FOREVER! IT IS JUST HORRIBLE WHAT PEOPLE DO TO ONE ANOTHER! WE TREAT ONE ANOTHER WITH SO MUCH DISRESPECT! WE GET MAD AT ANY LITTLE THING. IF SOMEBODY LOOKS AT US WRONG IT'S TIME TO FIGHT. YOU CAN'T TRUST NOBODY BECAUSE PEOPLE TAKE YOUR KINDNESS FOR WEAKNESS. EVERYBODY WANTS WHAT IS NOT THEIRS. PEOPLE GET MAD AT THE WORLD BECAUSE OF THE WAY THEY WERE TREATED WHEN THEY WERE GROWING UP, SO THEY BUY A GUN AND GO SHOOT UP EVERYBODY IN SIGHT - AND THEN WHEN THEY SEE NO ONE ELSE TO KILL, THEY TURN THE GUN ON THEMSELVES. IT'S ALWAYS BEEN THIS WAY. ALWAYS! OH I LONG FOR HOW IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE IN EDEN. I LONG FOR HEAVEN. I LONG FOR CHRIST. HAILE NKRUMAH GAULT |
Sunday, June 27, 2004
DO NOT FOLLOW THE CROWD
| EXODUS 23:2 "DO NOT FOLLOW THE CROWD IN DOING WRONG..." JAMES 4:4 "YOU ADULTEROUS PEOPLE, DON'T YOU KNOW THAT FRIENDSHIP WITH THE WORLD IS HATRED TOWARD GOD? ANYONE WHO CHOOSES TO BE A FRIEND OF THE WORLD BECOMES AN ENEMY OF GOD." ROMANS 12:2 "DO NOT CONFORM ANY LONGER TO THE PATTERN OF THIS WORLD, BUT BE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND..." 2 CORINTHIANS 6:14 "DO NOT BE YOKED TOGETHER WITH UNBELIEVERS. FOR WHAT DO RIGHTEOUSNESS AND WICKEDNESS HAVE IN COMMON? OR WHAT FELLOWSHIP CAN LIGHT HAVE WITH DARKNESS?" |
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