The Thief On The Cross

 The Thief On The Cross

It's a picture of us all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

   The thief on the cross, spoken of in the Gospels of our Lord Jesus, stands as an extreme view of salvation in the eyes of some.  The man who did what appears to be absolutely nothing, yet Jesus himself saved him declaring, “Today you shall be with me in paradise”.  But, it is my belief that the thief is not an extreme example, but that he is the norm.  We are all thieves on the cross; we just refuse to see it as such. (Luke  23:26-43)

     
     Every one of us stands condemned before God.  We know this in our hearts.  Whether we understand it or not, we know that something is wrong and that we need help.  We desire to know the one who made us, yet we cannot.  It is because we are filled with the plague of Sin from birth, which causes us to live lives apart from God.  It causes us to do the things we do, that we know are wrong.  Like a plague, it works in us to bring about symptoms of evil.  It causes us to knowingly rebel against God, and to reject the helping hand He offers us. 
     
     Therefore, we stand condemned, whether we think it is fair or understand it or not.  We have been nailed to a cross to die like condemned criminals, dangling above the fiery pit of eternity. We are like the thief on the cross.   ( The Book Of Romans)                        
    
      When Jesus was crucified, he was executed along with two thieves; one on each side of  Him.  This event was prophesied hundreds of years before when Isaiah said “…because He hath poured out His soul unto death: and He was numbered among the transgressors” (Isa.53:12b)
    
      So, how does this apply to us? We are all thieves on the cross.  God Almighty came to Earth in the form of Jesus Christ and was crucified with us in our sin and wretchedness.  He took it all upon His shoulders, and paid the price for us; so that we would not be eternally condemned.  We are to suffer death in this life, but not eternal damnation.
     
     We see our salvation experience in the crucifixion. Jesus Christ was made sin for us. (2 Cor.5: 19-21) This is symbolized when the soldiers put a scarlet (red) robe upon him and a crown of thorns upon His head. Both are symbols for Sin. (Matt. 27: 27-38) This shows that Sin itself was crucified. Sin was judged, while sinners were set free.
     
     He was crucified between two thieves; One on the right and one on the left. Both of the thieves mocked Him, at first. This is how all humans are. We reject God.  We reject His love and His Lordship of our lives. We choose Sin and the World system. We choose Satan, whether we know it or not. We make Lucifer our Lord, and reject the salvation that God freely offers.
      
     But, one of the thieves comes to the realization of who Jesus really is. The Holy Spirit spoke truth to his heart and he believed the Word given to him. The thief was mocking, but suddenly a change occurs. He saw the truth. He believed. That is faith. God called Him by His grace, and through faith the thief believed and was made righteous, at that instant. That is the same with us. We live our lives, and something happens that wakes us up. God comes to us and calls us and speaks to our hearts and we believe. We are saved at that instant.(Eph. 2:8-10)
       
     Next, we see the awakened thief witnessing to the unsaved thief.  He tells him that Jesus is not worthy of death but the thieves are. Just like when we witness of Jesus Christ we tell people that Jesus came to die for us, the innocent for the guilty. Jesus said “If you confess me before men, I will confess you before my father” ( Matt. 10:31-33 ) This thief was confessing Jesus before men.
       
     Next we see the thief speak to Jesus and he says “Lord”.  He confesses Jesus is The Lord. As it says in Romans 10:9-10.  “ that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”  He believed that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah and confessed Him as Lord. This is what each of us is called to do. (Acts 8:26-40)
      
     The thief said, “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  The thief believed upon Jesus, and put his future hope in Him, for a better day. A hope for something greater beyond this life, and wicked world. This hope is the same hope the prophets, the great men of old, believed in. It is the same hope we have. (Heb. 11:8-16, 11:32-40)
     
     Jesus Himself, said “Verily I say unto you, that today, you shall be with me in paradise.” Many take this to mean that since they died that day, they went to Paradise together. This is certainly true. But, it also means that on this day, in this instant, you are saved. You will be with me in Paradise, or heaven, forever. This is the same with us. We are saved forever, the second we first believe, and confess Him as Lord.
      
     The thief was not baptized. He did not go to church. He did not give money to charity or churches. He did not behave himself perfectly for 80 years of his life. He did absolutely nothing, but believe in Him, Confess Him as His Lord, and witness to the lost. That’s it. That’s all that is needed for salvation. After our salvation we seek to know God’s will for our lives by studying His Word. We are baptized, take communion, and gather with other believers. We give, and show love to others, as God works in our lives. We learn of the gifts He has given us, and we use them to build His kingdom. We struggle with our old nature, letting the new man come forth as God works. We deny the world system of Satan, and build God’s kingdom.
    
     We are all thieves on the cross. We are wretched sinners, just one step from death and destruction. The only thing saving us is Jesus Christ. Believe it, and Tell others. 

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Photo by the author. 

Are You Really Following Jesus?

 Are You Really Following Jesus?

Make Sure

 

What does it mean to follow the real Jesus?

Well, let’s look and see.

Jesus’s ministry was a ministry of healing. This should tell us something about what we believe in regards to the Gospel and how we are to serve God.

Because we want to be like Him. That is real godliness.

After Jesus fasted in the wilderness and was tempted of the devil.

“And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.

And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,

To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.

And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”— Luke 4:16-21

Is this how you are following Jesus? Are you preaching the Gospel to the poor? Are you healing the blind and broken-hearted? Are you setting the captives free? Are you fulfilling this mission in His footsteps? Are you letting the Holy Spirit do this work through you?

Let me show you something.

In the book of Matthew Chapter 25, Jesus tells us what will happen when He returns. One of the stories is the the Judgement of the Nations.

He asks about what we did for the hungry, naked, thirsty, strangers and those in jail?

Then He says, “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”—Matt 25:40

He doesn’t ask about your sin. He doesn’t ask about your sexual immorality or your politics. Because if you know Him, those things are washed away. He asks about what you did with your talents, and your gifts. Did you serve others? Did you tell others about Jesus? Did you show love and help people? Did you help those people everyone else rejected?

Because when we know Him, that is what we do.

If we live our lives in church and never know Him we are virgins without oil. We never put our faith in Him.

Do you really follow Him?

Jesus gave most of his condemnation to the religious leaders who were all about forcing people to obey the law, but did nothing to help or love others.

He says,

“But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.”—Matt 23:13-15

He spoke consistently against the religious leaders while healing the sinners.

He drove out the money changers from the temple. Twice.

This is prophecy and shows us the persecutions of the early church and of these latter days, where the Lord will cleanse His temple of those who do not believe.

Jesus came to heal people and set them free. He did not come to preach the law, and condemn sinners.

When you understand what sin really is, your mindset will change to match what Jesus came to do.

Sin is a corruption that get into us and makes us commit sins. It came from Adam, it corrupts our nature and makes us totally depraved. There is nothing good in us because of this spiritual plague.

And it is a plague. We can look at the law and see the description of leprosy. Leprosy, blindness, and all of these diseases are pictures of our corrupted nature.

Leprosy like sin, is contagious. It makes us unclean and filthy. It rots our flesh and kills us slowly, and we no longer go around healthy people and cannot go to the temple.

Look at how the pharisees treated the lepers, and blind and poor. They treated all of them as sinners punished by God. Is that how your church leads you to treat people? Is that how you view others who are not as good as you? Be honest with yourself. This is important.

When was the last time you sat down and talked with a dirty, smelly foul mouthed sinner? When was the last time you gave money to help someone in need. Not sterilized giving, where you are twice removed from the wicked. But, actually helping someone? Looking them in the eye as they lie to you, and you love them anyway and give them money without judgement?

Just like Jesus gives to you.

Jesus came to heal us and set people free from the bondage of Satan and Sin.

He died for us, who do not deserve it.

Jesus said “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

That is what following Jesus looks like.

It’s a daily self sacrifice, to live to help others and tell them about Jesus. It’s a daily mission to fulfill what Jesus came to do. Save others, help others, and set them free.

Is that what your church leads you to do? Or do you just sit around singing songs?

There is no song singing crown in glory.

Our worship is based upon what He has done for us, it leads us to want to help others.

Time is drawing short. The Lord is coming.

Listen to the Holy Spirit as he guides you.

“My sheep hear my voice” Jesus said.

He will lead us into all truth and help us to know how to serve and follow. We often hear His voice, then let the devil or fear talk us out of what Jesus is calling us to do. He might want us to do something to help people. Then, we tell others and they talk us out of it, or discourage us.

We are at war. The devil doesn’t want you to follow Jesus. He wants you to sit at church and do nothing. Listen to that still small voice. That urging to help or speak or serve. Learn to hear Him and follow.

We are saved and called to be a part of His mission.

Are you really following Him?

or are you following the pharisees?

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Cover photo by pexels

I Am Legion

 I Am Legion

You are never too far gone. 

 

 

In the books of Luke, Mark, and Matthew we see the story of the Gadarene Demoniac. (Mark 5:1-20, Luke 8:26-39, Matt. 8:28-34)

He had an unclean spirit, which called itself “Legion” because there were many of the demons inhabiting this man.

He lived in the tombs, crying out and running around naked. He attacked people. His family and friends had done everything they could to “Fix” him.

They even tried to hold him down with chains and lock him up, but he broke the chains and nothing could contain this man.

Often the Bible will give us a worst case scenario in order to show us that if God can help this guy with this terrible situation He can help me too.

Many of us have people we know or family members who are totally off the hook. Maybe even you are the one who refuses to live a normal life. Maybe addicted to drugs and alcohol. Maybe you’ve gone off the deep end over some terrible tragedy in your past.

We sometimes open doors into our lives that let demons come in and take root. They give us great ideas that end up in destruction and pain for ourselves and others.

This demoniac seems to be possibly mentally ill, but was he born that way? Did it get worse as he gave himself over to more and more.

Demons have no problem with attacking babies. As children we often do things innocently, which can open doors that lead to a life time of habits or oppression. Things can be done to us, that causes us to open those doors. Consider the serial killer who was abused as a child. Consider the kid who tortures animals.

This guy didn’t care what he looked like. He didn’t care what people thought of him. He didn’t care where he slept. He wanted to do his own thing regardless of what his loved ones thought or tried to get him to do.

He could have been a drunk who refused to live right. Maybe he was like the guy in the prodigal son story. He took his money and went and lived a crazy life, then fell on hard times. (Luke 15:11-32)

But, where the prodigal son heard the call of God and woke up. This guy refused to listen and continued to get worse, and let the demons lead him into even more evil till they had total control.

But even though this guy was really messed up, Jesus came to him.

We see that Jesus took a boat to the other side and all He did there was heal this man, and then He left.

He came for no other purpose but to save this man’s soul and life. He left the others and went for a man who could do nothing to save himself. A man that others feared and even hated. A man full of demons and a background of wickedness.

Then, through a drunken haze, full of crazy thoughts this man saw Jesus and ran to Him. Jesus was his only hope.

And what did Jesus do?

Did He preach a sermon and shame the man?

Did he give a dissertation on the sinful ways of man and sexual immorality?

Did he preach about going to church?

No.

He cast out the demons. He healed the man and saved his soul forever.

You don’t think the man understood what sin was or how sinful he was?

He lived it and saw what it did to him, he didn’t need to be beat down by guilt and shame.

What else did Jesus do?

He allowed the demons to go into the swine as they requested. He showed them mercy as well.

The swine went and drown themselves in the sea rather than have the demons in them. Swine are smarter than humans.

Because of this, the keepers of the swine demanded that Jesus leave their homeland because He had cost them their livelihood.

They cared nothing about the man Jesus had healed and saved.

We often encounter people who care more about money and profit than they do other human beings. They will let people suffer, die and go to hell because it might cost too much.

How many churches have driven out and ruined people who came to them. Because it was too much trouble or too much money to help?

How many churches could open a basement for addiction recovery or visit people in jail, or help poor families down the road? But, instead think that sitting around singing songs is holiness. They rely on traditions of men instead of the Holy Spirit.

What did Jesus tell the demoniac after he was healed?

Did he tell Him, “Go and tell all your friends to quit sinning?”

No.

Jesus told him to go and tell his friends about the good things God had done for him.

Jesus sent him to give his testimony.

To tell others about how Jesus had showed up, and healed him and saved him and gave him his right mind back, and filled him with a purpose and a hope.

Have you told others about the good things God has done for you? have you told people about Jesus and how to be saved?

Jesus said “Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.”—Luke 12:8-9

In these last days, we shall over come those demons by the power of our testimony and the Blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. (Rev. 12:11)

Jesus comes to us and calls us, no matter where we are or how bad. Just ask Him. He will lift us up out of the sewer and set our feet upon the solid Rock of Himself.

Just like He did for the demoniac.

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Cover photo by pexels/Francesco Ungaro

Overcoming The Saints

 Overcoming The Saints

The saints will be overcome.

 

 

The scriptures are clear that the Anti-Christ will make war with the saints and overcome them. (Dan. 7:25, Rev. 13:7)

I want to point out how this is likely to occur and how it is already started. I am not giving a prophecy here. I’m just pointing out some things.

If you believe in a pre-tribulation rapture, we will not be in agreement here. I believe the saints will be on Earth till the Lord returns and we will meet Him in the air at that time, as the scriptures teach and as the Apostles believed.

Once you toss out that pre-tribulation rapture false teaching. The Word opens up and you start to see Truth.

Understand that Satan is building his kingdom for the Anti-Christ right now, and has been working on it since he caused Adam and Eve to fall in the Garden. One of his tools, is the spirit of antichrist spoken of in First John. (1 John 4:3)

This spirit along with the fallen angels, demons and unclean spirits have enslaved humanity and used them to build the Luciferian kingdom, seen the image of Daniel chapter two.

When Jesus died and rose He broke their yoke of power in the spirit, and the Saints began spreading the Gospel to get people saved before Jesus Christ’s return.

Satan and his forces have infiltrated every human institution. They use everything to build his demonic kingdom on Earth to prepare for the Anti-Christ to come.

In the mean time, the saints have been disrupting this building and saving souls.

The forces of Satan have worked to corrupt the Church, and divide it and destroy it since it’s inception. But, the people in the Church who are really saved, have continued to serve Christ through all these years. Creating new denominations and new ministries, despite persecution.

Fast forward to today.

The spirit of antichrist has continued to break up churches and denominations over many things, women as pastors, homosexuals as pastors, gay marriage, abortion, politics, social concerns, vaccines, and the treatment of illegal immigrants.

These hot button issues, along with how churches have treated people in general because of false brethren being in leadership has created an atmosphere where there are two separate churches.

The Right wing church and the Left wing church. Currently, both are still united in Christ, because there are many on both sides who still confess Him as Lord.

But, there is great anger between these two sides. Satan has caused it. It is simply a divide and conquer strategy. The people in the various churches have ignored the Word and the Spirit and have let these things divide them and get them to take their eye off Christ’s true mission. Saving souls, and helping people. Love conquers all.

The American culture war has been brought into the Church.

So here we are perched on a cliff.

The scriptures say that the saints will be given over to the Anti-Christ to overcome them. (Rev. 13:7)

This is probably what Paul is talking about when He speaks of the restrainer being removed. (2 Thess. 2)

The Holy Spirit will not be removed in a rapture, but will stop restraining the Anti-Christ. Deception will increase, and the elect saints will only know the truth because they know the Word and listen to the Holy Spirit teaching them (1 John 2:27, Matt. 24:24)

That time has been prepared.

The Trump administration has interpreted laws and executive orders in such a way as to use them to fight against the Communists who seek to destroy America.

If Trump and the Right lose power and the Left comes to power. Those same methods could be used against the Right, and the Church.

By executive order churches who have tax exempt status can be forced to accept things they do not want to accept or lose the exemption. (It should not be hard to imagine what sorts of things churches would be forced to accept or do.)

This will require faith to resist and will destroy many churches financially.

Hate speech and disinformation laws could be enacted to silence preaching and the Gospel or go to jail. It has already been done world wide.

Homeschooling and religious schooling can be shut down, and kids forced to go to schools, colleges and universities where they are brainwashed, to prepare them to accept the Anti-Christ system to come. The indoctrination is already happening.

The hatred toward the Church can be amped up and certain Christian groups could be labeled hate groups or even terrorist organizations; unless the church has a government trained and licensed pastor, and accepts the things forced on them.

This is similar to what they do in China. They have two churches; the government sanctioned churches and the illegal underground church. The government churches have pastors who are licensed and required to report on church members who show signs of being real Christians, or who do not support the government. They will be beaten, jailed and killed. The underground church is hunted.

Along with the rise of the Anti-Christ, will come the False Prophet.

We do not know a lot about this guy, but from what I can tell he will create a religion that will serve everyone. It will incorporate the doctrines of all religions. It will answer questions people never knew. It will be spiritual but also scientifically accurate. But, it will reject Jesus Christ as Lord. Jesus will be taught. But, He won’t be considered Lord. They will believe there have been many christs, and Jesus is one.

People will flock to this religion and many people who have claimed to be Christian will turn to it as well. This could be the great falling away. This will be the Apostate Church.

When the Anti-Christ rises up, there will be large amounts of people in the church who have believed in the Pre-tribulation rapture who will be shocked. The Anti-Christ is not supposed to rise up yet, they will say. But, here he is.

Now, so the false teachers can keep their pride they will come up with some excuse why the rapture hasn’t happened yet. They will claim the Lord has delayed His coming.

Jesus said “But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken”—Luke 12:45

These false brethren will turn back to the world, and join the Apostate Church and will join in the persecution of the saints when the Anti-Christ comes.

And the Anti-Christ will allow or sanction persecution of the saints.

As the Lord said “the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” (Matt. 10:21-22)

False brethren will betray the saints. Children brainwashed in government schools will snitch on parents. Fathers will betray kids who hear about Jesus, to cause them to be put to death.

We see cancel culture on the internet all the time. It will get far worse.

The saints will be forced into hiding, like they do in China and other countries.

The United States is the last country where we are free to preach, and spread the Gospel. Satan seeks to destroy that freedom, and stop the Word.

Throughout history Satan and his fallen angels and demons have caused human suffering. They tempt and twisted and lead humans to sin and fall. They have caused or twisted every bad thing in history.

It will get worse as the four horsemen do their work. (Rev. 6)

Now, the Anti-Christ will solve all those problems Satan created. The whole world will run after him. The false prophet will proclaim Him as a god, sent from above to help us, like many christs before.

And the Apostate Church who have joined with the False Prophet’s religion will agree and worship the Anti-Christ, and will receive the Mark. (Rev. 13)

While the Saints are in hiding, being murdered and tortured. Starving and suffering because they reject the Mark and cannot buy or sell anything.

The Mark will probably be connected to ID, Bank Accounts, Medical Records, Criminal Records, and not having the Mark will destroy a person and make them “illegal”.

Consider what happened during Covid when the government demanded people take the vaccine or get fired. Remember, how many businesses and companies agreed globally. That was a test by the Luciferian forces.

Do not be deceived. The time is drawing close.

And the saints will be wore out, and overcome.

I do not say defeated, because we have victory in Christ. Jesus does not allow us to be defeated.

Then, the Lord comes and destroys the False Prophet and Anti-Christ. He sets up His kingdom on Earth.

And this is when the false brethren will come out to meet Him with no oil. (Matt. 25)

They will have buried their gift in a napkin. (Luke 19:12-27)

They will say “Lord Lord, have we not done wonderful works?” and be told to depart because they never knew Him. (Matt. 7:21-23)

They will be sent into darkness, because they refused to help the least of these Christ’s brethren. (Matt. 25)

Probably during the persecution, and because these false brethren never had the Holy Spirit, so never really served Christ at all despite the works they did. They never really confessed Him as Lord.

The time is drawing near.

Turn to the Lord and ask Him to save you. Give yourself to Him fully and trust Him to save you. Not because you obey this rule or do this work, but because He promises to. (Rom. 10:9-10)

Turn to God and ask Him to save you. Confess Jesus is the Lord, and believe God raised Him from the dead. Get baptized. Take communion. Read and study God’s Word. Let the Holy Spirit guide you.

You can see the direction things are going.

Do not be caught on the wrong side of the fence. When the time of deception comes, it will be harder and harder to discern the truth and turn to God.

Eventually the door will be shut, and there will be time no more. Grace and salvation will end. Just like when God shut the door on Noah’s Ark. Just like when the angels shut Lot’s door, and struck those outside blind. (Gen. 7:16, Gen 19:10-11)

There will be a point when the good news of the Gospel is over, and the bad news comes.

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Cover photo by the author.

The Christian And Violence

 The Christian And Violence

 What is the truth?

 

I want to start with the ultimate truth, then talk about the current times, and prophecy.

If you want to know God’s will on any subject you can probably find it in the Garden at Creation.

There was no evil or death present. Nothing killed anything else.

The humans and animals all ate fruits, veggies and nuts. This did not kill anything. They ate the fruits and pooped out the seeds spreading more life.

There was no killing of any kind. There was no violence.

All creatures including humans had all of their needs met. There was no competition. There was no striving to avoid pain and death. There was no disease.

Adam and Eve had a purpose, and walked with God.

So, when you speak of God and political views and how things should be.

The Garden is God’s will.

That is Paradise, which will come again when Christ returns and the city of God is on the Earth.

We see the teachings of Jesus about love, forgiveness, turning the other cheek, loving our enemies and other lessons clearly speaking of non-violence.

We see him being brutally murdered by Satan, through religious, and civil leaders. While He submitted and forgave them, like a lamb.

He forgave and took upon Himself the sins of the world, to save us if we turn to Him. He did not violently destroy them, even though He had twelve legions of angels ready. (Matt. 26:53)

And when we turn to Him and ask Him to save us, He fills us with the Holy Spirit, which starts working to bring out the Fruit of the Spirit in us. This is “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” (Gal. 5:22-23)

Not violence. The violence in us is the flesh. Not the Spirit. It’s the old man. Not the new spirit man.

Christians are to love God and others. We are to help others and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Even if that leads to persecution and death.

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”–Psalm 116:15

Because when we die knowing Him and serving Him, we go home to Paradise to be with Him.

We die for God’s purpose and we die for others.

We die to ourselves and live for Him.

This is a fact. This is spiritual reality.

BUT…

Because of the Fall, we live in a world filled with evil, death, darkness and ruled by the enemy; Satan. We are surrounded by corruption, murder, robbery and all forms of evil wickedness constantly. People doing the most heinous things, being guided by demons and their own sinful nature. Even the saints are striving with demons who whisper to the flesh.

It’s every where.

Jesus prayed “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.”– John 17:15

We are in this evil world, but we are protected from the evil corrupting our souls as well, if we know Him.

We confess our sins to Him and He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness –1 John 1:8-10

He washes our feet as we walk in this filthy world.

He has given us the Law to show us we are sinners and need Him, but also to help us have order in this world ruled by evil.

In the Law and in the Old Testament we see plainly that because of the Fall; because we are surrounded by evil, in a world ruled by Satan. There are times when violence is required and allowed, lest the evil take over.

Of course, violence does not have to be killing.

There is all kinds of violence that can occur short of killing.

The Bible says, “Thou shalt not kill” it does not say, “Thou shalt not beat severely”

Just to clarify.

As believers we should not want violence. The Holy Spirit guides our heart toward peace. love and mercy.

But, there are various levels of violence.

According to scripture, we are allowed to kill humans and animals, for the following reasons.

War, Capital Punishment, Self-Defense, Defense Of Others, Defense of the Nation, Sacrifice (animals), and Procuring Food and Survival Needs (animals).

You will find that all reasons fit within these categories.

All of these are to be done truthfully, prayerfully and with righteous judgement.

We are not supposed to want to just go out and kill for no proper reason. To get land, or trophies or money. To exterminate whole groups. For hatred or revenge, or sinful reasons.

If we are saints our hearts are to be turned towards God and what His will is.

It’s hard.

Sometimes we show mercy.

But sometimes we must destroy evil, without letting the evil consume us.

The New Testament speaks of the ruler bearing the sword for the evil doer. (Rom. 13:1-8)

God set up government for the purpose of making things safe and good, so the saints can live in the spirit in this evil world.

God is our ruler, not humans.

God does not condone sin and corruption in government any more than He does in the individual. It needs to be dealt with.

There are those who think evil is fine, if it comes under the guise of government authority. That is not the case.

We are called to serve God. We are called to answer to Him.

Government is to be a servant of God, and should be doing right, and it is our responsibility to make sure it does.

But do we do it violently?

We are to use every means we can to change things without killing people.

It’s that simple.

But there is a time for everything. There is a time for war. There is a time to kill. There is also a time to heal, and a time for peace. We have seen these times, where war is needed to stop evil and to bring those responsible to justice. (Ecc. 3:1-8)

It’s up to God, when those times are.

We know His voice. If we know Him. He let’s us know.

He raises up people, for such a time as this.

The saint must understand that this world is being pushed by the spirit of antichrist and the forces of Satan, toward the building of the Kingdom of the Anti-Christ to come.

It is being prepared.

According to God’s Word, the saints will be defeated, and we will face persecution like nothing ever seen before. (Rev. 13:7, Dan. 7:25, Luke 21, Matt. 24, Rev. 6:9, Rev. 20:4 )

“Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.”—Psalm 44:22

“And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.”— Dan.7:25

God allows it.

There will be people who have been in church claiming to be Christians, who actually never knew Jesus and will become the Apostate Church following the False Prophet; who will lead them into worshiping the Anti-Christ.

Those false brethren will betray the saints.

Their leaders at church will sell them out.

Their own children probably brainwashed in schools, colleges and universities, will turn their parents in to be jailed and killed.

And the Anti-Christ will wear out the saints and make war against them and kill them. (Rev. 13:7)

The saints waging war with violence will not matter, it will compound to more violence. It will add to the defeat of the saints. (Rev. 13:10)

We will see the enemy destroyed when Christ returns and sets up His Kingdom on Earth. Justice will come. (Rev. 14)

All of this is the doctrine of spiritual warfare. It is the truth from God’s Word, about the saints and violence.

“The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;”— 2 Cor. 10:4

God’s Word teaches us how to wage war. The Holy Spirit teaches us how to wage war.

We overcome the enemy by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony, and not loving our lives more than Jesus. (Rev. 12:11)

Our purpose is to Love God, Love others and to tell them what great things God has done for us.

We are saved. We are forgiven and called to protect the least of these and call them to Christ. (Matt. 25)

Get to work.

The time draws near.

Jesus is coming.

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What Is Death?

 What Is Death?

It's important to know.

 

 

Death on its most basic level means separation.

It is not an end, as some suppose.

The Bible teaches that we are triune, like God. We are made in His image.

We have a body, a soul and a spirit.

When God created everything He created it good. Evil was contained elsewhere, and there was no death. Everything ate plants. Fruits, veggies and nuts.

We were created to live forever.

God loves us and wants us to love Him freely, so He gave us free will and a choice.

Adam was given dominion of the Earth to take care of it. He was free to eat of anything he wanted except for the tree in the midst of the Garden.

“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”—Gen 2:17

We do not know how long Adam and Eve were in the Garden together. But, Satan came and got them to do the one thing they were not supposed to do. Eat of that tree.

The moment they ate it, something happened.

“And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.”— Gen. 3:7

Their eyes were opened.

They were previously living in innocence like little kids, running around the woods naked. But, when they ate it they became aware of both good and evil. They previously only knew good. Now evil came flooding upon them, and into them. Their innocent nature became corrupted. They tried to fix the problem themselves, but only God can fix it.

This is where our corrupted nature comes from. That thing inside of us that leads us to commit sin and causes us to be unclean, and in league with Satan.

Now, notice Adam and Eve did not die.

This shows us that they died spiritually. Their spirits died. That living soul, that God breathed into them; left them. (Gen.2:7)

But we also know that Adam lived 900 years before he died in the flesh. That is one day for God. (2 Peter 3:8)

Because Adam had dominion he was in charge, and his failure opened the door for evil to flood into him and all humans after him. It also caused death to come into this world, and upon everything in this world. The entire creation groans waiting for this to end. (Romans 8:16-25)

Since he chose to follow Satan instead of God, the dominion was handed over to Satan, who has become the god of the world. (2 Cor. 4:4)

This is why death came. It is a separation. We are separated from our loved ones and from God, by spiritual death, physical death and eternal death.

God is a holy God. Paradise is a good, holy place. The corruption that plagues humans cannot be allowed to enter heaven. It cannot be allowed to enter eternity, or else the eternal will become ruined the same as this world. Imagine an eternity full of the suffering we have in this world.

God destroyed the Earth with a Flood, to wash away the evil. But, it rose back up. He knew it would. Now, the world waits to be purged with fire and burned up, before God creates a new heaven and earth. (2 Peter 2:3)

God Himself, in the form of Jesus Christ came to Earth and died on the cross to restore that which was lost. (Matt. 18:11)

When a person hears Gods call and turns to Him, confessing Jesus is the Lord, they are saved. They are filled with the Holy Spirit and they are brought from death (separation) unto life. Their spirit comes alive again.

Like Adam, when we commit our first sin, our spirit dies within us. Until it is resurrected into new life in Christ.

Understand that our spiritual separation makes us blind toward God. But, He still sees us clearly. There is no where we can hide from God.

When we die physically we become separated from this world and our loved ones. If we are saved and washed in the Blood of Jesus we are clean from the evil that plagues us and we go to be with the Lord in Paradise. (Luke 23:43, 2 Corinthians 5:1-8)

BUT…

If we die physically and are not washed in the Blood. We are full of the corruption which plagues all humanity. We cannot go to Paradise to be with the Lord, because we are plagued. Evil is like a plague that spreads. Our sins are a symptom of this plague. We sin because of what is in us. We are plagued and unclean. (Rom 7:7-25)

So, we have to go to Hell and eventually The Lake of Fire, where Satan and His Angels, Demons and Unclean spirits will be. It is a place of containment. It is a garbage dump for all things evil and foul and unclean.

It is eternal death. Or eternal separation. A quarantine.

All humans are raised from the dead and given new bodies. But, some go to live forever in Paradise, while others go to live forever separated in Hell/Lake of Fire. The second death. The second separation. (John 5:28-29, Rev. 20:5=6, Rev. 20:12-13)

We often look at this subject in legal terms. Laws, Sin, Judges, Punishment. These are the terms used for Satan and his rebellion. For all those who knowingly reject God.

But, the reality is that God loves us and seeks to save us from a plague that corrupts us and keeps us from knowing Him.

Jesus did not come preaching law. He came healing people. Healing the blind and setting people free from Satan and his demons.

That is what God is doing.

He is saving us, setting us free and opening our eyes, if we turn to Him.

Death for the saint is not separation. It is a homecoming.

We once were blind, but now we see. We were once dead, but now we live eternally.

When we give ourselves to God, He saves us and holds us forever. We are washed in the Blood, forever clean and able to enter His presence.

When Jesus died, the veil in the temple was rent from top to bottom (Matt. 27:51)

God Himself ripped that wall of separation apart so He could bring his kids home.

And when He returns, He will restore what was lost, and defeat death. (Rev. 21:4)

And we will be with the Lord forever.

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Let There Be Light

 Let There Be Light

 In the beginning, it was finished

 

 

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”—Gen. 1:1-2

The Bible doesn’t leave us wondering, it comes out with the fact that God created the heaven and the earth. He is the creator, and created everything.

God starts with a formless, nothing that is dark and full of deep water. Then, His Spirit moved upon this and He said,

 “Let there be light: and there was light.”

 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.”—Gen 1:3-4

In the Gospel of John the first few sentences tell us.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. ,And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”—John 1:1-5

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”— John 8:12

This is the first place Jesus and the Gospel message is revealed to us. We can see that God knew what He was doing before He even started creation.

Jesus was already slain from the foundation of the World (Rev. 13:8)

God prepared a way, even before the fall of Adam and Eve. He knew what would happen and was ready.

God is love and everything He created was created because of His love.

But, love cannot be forced. It must be free. So, He gave His creation free will to love Him and follow Him if they choose.

Satan and those spirits who followed him, exercised their free will and chose to reject God, and became corrupted with evil. They became full of darkness, and rebelled against God.

And a rift came, between the darkness of evil and the light of life.

And the enemy, seeking to hurt God by any means, went to the Garden of God on the Earth and tempted the man and the woman, leading to their fall, and they also became full of darkness, corruption and blind. Not comprehending the light of life. They became dead in the spirit and blind to the light.

So that all humans born into this world are born with a corrupted nature. Full of darkness. Facing death in the flesh, and death in the spirit. Blind toward God and the light of Life.

Living lives devoted to self.

Living lives of misery, in remembrance of the lost light and goodness, but finding it no where.

The corruption within leading to sin, and more corruption as the demons torment and tempt us to fail and fall. Seeking to steal from us. To kill us. and destroy us.

Doing everything they can to keep us from getting saved, and knowing God. To keep us distracted, and not serving God.

Twisting us up in lies, to keep us blind, and broken. To keep us in darkness, without any light, heaping trouble on trouble to crush any thoughts of God, and keeping us from hearing His call.

And He does call us in the darkness. His spirit hovers over the darkness and he speaks into our dead formless life if we choose to hear Him.

“Let there be light”

He tells us of Jesus and the light of life, and if we turn to Him and confess Him as Lord, He saves us and brings us out of darkness. He heals our blindness. He lifts us up from the deep dark waters and places our feet upon the Rock, which is Christ.

If we turn to Him He saves us and grows us and builds a relationship with us through His Grace and our Faith in Him.

And on Judgement day, we will be with Him; in the light of Christ.

As the Fallen Angels, Demons and all those who chose to stay in the darkness are cast into the Lake of Fire, which is the garbage dump outside the city of God. Prepared for them at Creation. (Rev. 20, Matt. 25:41)

Where the fires are not quenched and the worm dieth not. In darkness, without light. Separated from Him, forever. (Isa. 66:21-24)

But, in the Paradise of God

“There shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.”— (Rev. 22:5)

The Lord calls us to turn to His light and to know Him.

All we have to do is hear, believe and call on the name of Jesus, confessing him as Lord.. (Romans 10:9-10, 13, Acts 2:21, John 10:19)

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Work Out Your Own Salvation

 Work Out Your Own Salvation

What does it mean? 

 

“Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”—Phil. 2:12-13

There are those who enjoy using this verse as a tool to push a works based doctrine. They claim that works are required in our salvation. Works, are a sign of our faith, between you and God. Works do not save us. This can clearly be seen in the very next verse. It is God who does the work.

As James said, “Faith without works is dead.” Our works show that we believe. Show who? Are we trained apes that perform for people? No. It shows God and ourselves that we believe. It helps build our faith as we actively follow the Holy Spirit and do the things God calls us to do. Our faith grows and is alive as we see ourselves following God. (Jas. 2:24)

The fact is that we are saved by GRACE, not by faith or works. This is very important to understand. It is nothing we do. Even faith is a work, when compared to grace. Any work on our part rejects God’s Grace. If we think we are helping God or paying God back, or obeying Him because of grace, we are rejecting His grace. If I give you something, and you do something or pay for it, you have ruined my free gift. See? When you try to do something nice for someone and they demand that you let them pay you back, this is what we try to do with God and His Grace. When we do it, we are rejecting His free gift, and trying to save ourselves through our own righteousness.(Eph. 2:8-10, Rom. 11:6)

So what does it mean to work out our own salvation?

Well, first it means that it is each person’s responsibility to hear God’s call and turn to Him for salvation. It is also each persons responsibility to make sure they are really saved. Hence, the fear and trembling. (Romans 10:9-10)

We must realize that each of us are born with certain problems in our DNA. This is our corrupted nature from Adam. You can often see it in family traits. Things that are in our flesh and we struggle with. Sometimes, these are mixed with our environment as kids. I don’t want to call it sin, because it doesn’t start out as sin, until you sin in it, or because of it.

 Take anger as an example. Some people are born, with quick tempers. But, it’s not a sin, until it causes you to sin. Then, you must deal with the consequences. Addiction is another example; people are born with a proclivity to addiction. They become addicts faster or easier. This is something that leads to more sin and struggle.

These are just a couple of examples. The point is that we are all born with these failings in our DNA, and we are raised in families or environments which impact us. These things lead us to grow up a certain way. It opens doors for the devil to influence our life. It creates who we are.

This is a product of our fallen world, our sin, and the demons who rule it. God does not make junk. But, this world does impact us. (2 Cor. 4:4)

Then, we meet Jesus.

We hear a sermon or a tract, or a friend tells us about Christ.

We are saved. The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us. We are set free. Our sins are forever gone.

Then comes Monday morning and the world attacks us, along with the devil. We discover that we have power over some things in our lives, that we never had before. But, we also learn that there are still fleshly things we must struggle with.

As we walk with God in the Spirit we have things that will tempt our flesh. We have spiritual enemies seeking to devour us. We will fail. But, we are overcomers through Him. We will sin. But, we are forgiven and confess them to the Lord.

This walk is working out our own salvation, with God. We are saved by His grace. But, we walk in this world.

Let’s take two people. One is born into a nice Christian family. They have everything going for them and they get saved. Now take another person born in poverty, addicted to drugs, prison and all kinds of sin, and they get saved.

Both are saved. Both are equal. Both have problems. But, both did not start out in the same place.

Their journey with God is different. Not better or worse, but different. They have different struggles. They have different sins that they are impacted by. They have different demons.

They work out their own salvation on their own journey with God. They walk through different valleys and over different mountains with Him.

An addict who gets saved, struggles with that issue, while another believer might struggle with anger. Another might struggle with gossip, while another battles anxiety.

The devil attacks our flesh and tempts us any way he can to get our focus off of God, and serving Him. It’s a war. The devil wins by keeping us from sharing the Gospel, building the Kingdom, and bringing light into darkness.

All of this is working out our own salvation, within God’s Grace, as we walk with Him. It’s our sanctification through our relationship with Him.

Do not let the works based doctrines of some beat you down. Just turn to God and keep turning to Him. That is relationship, as we rely totally on Him. Not ourselves.

Praise Jesus.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois.

Cover photo by Pexels/Kampus Productions

Checkout Chris’s books.

Checkout Latter Days

Checkout Good Soldier

You might also like this book

Checkout Exposing The Devil’s Playbook

Sin vs. Love

 Sin vs. Love

 We are set free, in order to serve.

 

The Bible plainly shows in Matthew 25, what Christ will ask when He returns.

He doesn’t ask, “Did you watch porn?”

He doesn’t ask “Did you have sex before marriage, or did you have an abortion”

He doesn’t ask “Did you vote right, or did you go to church or did you obey leaders and pay what you owe?”

Nope.

He asks if you visited prisoners? Did you help the poor? Did you clothe the naked? Did you give a cool drink to the thirsty? Did you love your neighbor? Did you love at all? Did you show kindness and compassion? Did you reconcile people to God? Did you use your gifts to save souls, spread the Kingdom and help others?

I can hear you squirming in your seat dying to say…”yeah…but”

No.

Jesus died for our sins and rose for our justification. If you are saved then you are in Him and are dead to sins.  It is not held against you. Do the dead sin? No. Paul explains this in Romans.

That means that you have power over it. But, it also means that it is irrelevant to your eternity. You are washed. You are hid in Christ.  Our focus is serving God and growing the Kingdom. Not, in worrying about whether we look like good Christians, but by being good Christians through service. (Col. 3:1-3)

You confess your sins and God forgives you, and works to help you overcome. This is foot washing. God cleanses us of all sin when we confess Him as Lord. But, we get dirty as we walk in this world. Like Jesus said, we have no need but to wash our feet. We do this by confessing our sins to Him. Likewise, when we confess our sins to each other and pray for each other, we wash each others feet. As James said. (1 John 1:1-10, John 13: 4-15, James 5:16, Rom. 10:9-10)

 We are saved, and washed and hid in Christ. Our sins are gone. They are washed away. We are white as snow.

But, the things we do can open doors to the enemy to destroy us and ruin our lives. We can let demonic forces have more access to our lives. Even though we are eternally saved and forgiven. Our life in this world can be miserable because we do not confess our sins and let God work in our lives. Those sins can grow until they destroy us, if we do not let God deal with them. They can become strongholds of demonic activity in our lives. Things that can impact those around us and generations down the road.

But remember, all things work together for our good. God can use that destruction or trouble to help us. God will use it to grow us. He is not trying to hurt us but give a hope and a future. We are saved. We are in Christ, if you know Him. He chastises those He loves. The destruction or rock bottom, works to wake us up and set us free. (Romans 8: 28, Jere 29:11, Heb. 12:6)

And we still are saved forever.

God deals with our sin so we can serve the Kingdom. Knowing God and serving Him is our purpose. That’s our focus. Not our life, but His.

We are being sanctified, and through the sanctification, we endure hardness as we serve. We endure temptation and overcome through the Holy Spirit and service to the Kingdom. (2 Tim. 2:3, James 1:12)

Our willingness to have a relationship with Christ and let the Holy Spirit, love through us is what we are called to do. (Eph 2:8-10)

Our service and our love is a reflection of our relationship with God.

When you read Matthew 25. It’s obvious that the people thought they were saved. But, they never knew the King, so they never did the compassionate loving things God desired. They never grew in faith as the Lord worked in them and on them. They never had a relationship with Him. They thought their works saved them, instead of being saved to do good works. They worried about sin, like pharisees, even though they were dead to sin. Satan will get us focused on quitting sinning and being moral, because that keeps us from getting people saved, or fighting the evil in this world. (Eph 2:8-10, Matt. 7:21-23)

They never knew Him.

It’s not about works. It’s about who you know and who you have a relationship with. And that relationship will get us to serve Him, as He sanctifies us.

Let God take care of your sins. Focus on serving and loving others. Focus on the relationship with God.

And you will find that those sins you worry about, get less and less. We grow. We build faith. We build our relationship with God. We overcome the sin that so easily besets us. By following the Holy Spirit and doing the service God calls us to do. Not by works, but by His power.

Love covers a multitude of sins. God is love, and He works to drive those things out of us through Love. As we love God, serving Him and having that relationship with Him, and serving others. Loving them. (1 Peter 4:7-8)

We find ourselves growing free, to match the spiritual truth that we are already free in Christ. 

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The Road To Emmaus

 The Road To Emmaus

 Our hearts burned within us

 

After Jesus rose from the dead, He spent 40 days on the Earth before He ascended to heaven. (Acts 1)

During that time he was seen by many people. Proving that He was alive.

He appeared to the disciples several times. Helping them to understand what had happened and building their faith for the work they needed to do. (John chapter 20 and 21, Matt. 28, Mark 16,)

One of those times was when 2 disciples were walking on the road to the village of Emmaus, and a man joined them as they walked. (Luke 24)

It was Jesus.

At first they did not recognize Him. On several occasions he was not recognized by appearance but was known. A possible explanation could be that the beating He took from the Romans might have swollen or bruised his face. The other possibility is that his resurrected body was so healed and perfect that he no longer showed signs of age or any physical blemishes. He might have looked years younger.

But often when he spoke or they saw him perform some act, He became obvious to them. Like when you meet someone you have not seen in years, but when they smile or say your name, you see them for who they are.

So, Jesus walked with them and listened to them recount the activities of the last few days. The crucifixion and resurrection.

They still doubted and had fear.

But, Jesus spoke to them.

“O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?” — Luke 24:25-26

Then, beginning at the writings of Moses, which is Genesis through Deuteronomy, and all the prophets, Jesus explained to them where He appeared in the scriptures. All the allegorical pictures of Him. The allusions to the coming Messiah and the prophecies of Him.

Jesus is the central point of the Bible. Virtually everything is a picture of Him.

From the point where God says, “Let there be Light” in Genesis, we know that Jesus is the Light of the World. To where God created the woman, and it is the story of the crucifixion.

God caused Adam to go into a deep sleep (Death)

And out of his side He took a rib and fashioned a Woman to be Adam’s Bride.

Likewise, after Jesus died a Roman soldier pierced His side with a spear and out flowed blood and water.

And the Church, who is the Bride of Christ, is created by the Blood of the Lamb, and the water of baptism.

It’s the same story.

We see in Genesis Chapter 3 where God makes reference to The Serpent’s head being crushed by the seed of the woman. A reference to Christ’s victory over Satan.

We can move forward to Noah, who was righteous because he believed the Word, God gave Him. He built an Ark to save as many as would believe. Just like Jesus saves us from the coming wrath if we put our faith in Him and get on board.

We see the story of the Exodus where the blood of the Lamb was painted on the door posts in order to save everyone in the house.

We see the law of Moses where the sacrifices and sanctuaries are pictures of the coming great sacrifice of Jesus, and that we are clean and hid in Him.

We can go on and on showing the hidden references to Christ throughout God’s Word.

And they were hidden in order to keep God’s plan a secret from Satan and His angels, until the day Jesus was killed and set us free.

They were mysteries from the foundation of the world, for the same reason that He spoke to them in Parables.

“He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.”—Matt. 13:11-15

God has set a method for salvation.

Hear His call and turn to Him. Believing Him and confessing Him as Lord. Asking Him to save you in Jesus name. (Romans 10:9-10, Acts 2:38, Acts 2:21)

And the Holy Spirit will reveal the truth to you and grow you in Christ. Working to build your faith.

Jesus is the Door.

If anyone tries another way they are a robber and a thief. (John 10)

If Satan has deceived them with a works based doctrine, they do not really know the Lord. They have never confessed Him as Lord. They have never received grace, because they are trying to save themselves. (1 Cor. 12:3, Rom 11:6)

 They are like the demons who know there is a God, but they reject Him. They do not confess Him as Lord. They are in rebellion and have never submitted to the Lord, and received grace. Those same demons work to keep us trapped in rebellion with them.  (James 2:19)

That is why the Gospel was hid and remains a difficult thing.

In order to prevent Satan and his minions in the war, and to get humans saved the proper way.

But, it is not difficult. It is the easiest thing in the world. Simply submit to the Lord. Turn to Him and confess Him as your Lord. He will do the rest.

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