The Sins and Signs of Saul

 The Sins and Signs of Saul

A Word on Salvation

 

 

 According to Scripture, (1 Samuel 8:1- 1 Sam. 31:13) Saul’s sins were,
1. Not completely destroying everything in an evil city in Israel. He allowed the king and the livestock to live.
2. Not waiting on God’s Man, Samuel to come and do the sacrifice,
3.  And by going to a witch with a familiar spirit for guidance, instead of going to God.

        I have always felt sorry for Saul. It seems like he is judged harshly by God for his sins. He loses the kingship, and he is killed by his enemies along with his son and ultimately his family. (1 Sam. 31:1-13) I look at my own life, and I have done so many things, that it makes me feel as though I have done worse than Saul. So, if God treats Saul this way, how will He treat me?

      

     Now, over the years I have heard preachers use this story of Saul to preach a works based doctrine of salvation, saying that Saul was slain for disobedience, so you better obey too, or you’ll be slain or suffer. I have also heard this text being used to claim that a person can lose their salvation.

      

     But, as I studied Saul’s life, I believe the Lord showed me that this story is actually a picture of all of our salvation experiences, and that Saul never really accepted the Lord. This story is a picture of someone rejecting Christ. Yes, Saul disobeyed, but his disobedience was in specific areas that spell out something bigger. It is not that Saul sinned, we all sin. But, Saul sinned in such a way that it paints a picture, and God uses that picture to show us something.

    

      First, Saul is called by God to be king, not because of anything Saul has done. God Himself chose Saul, after the people called for a king. Likewise God calls us. He calls all humans to come to Him and to have an inheritance, and to rule with him as priest/kings. It’s not because of any good we have done, or any special thing about us. We can accept or we can hide and reject. It can be argued whether Saul really accepted or not. He became king. But, did He accept the Lord? Did he confess God as his King? (1 Sam. 8:1- 10:27)

     

      Second, Saul did not wait on God’s man Samuel to show up to do the sacrifice. He let the world around him dictate what he should do, instead of what he knew to do. So, he did the sacrifice himself. (1 Sam. 13:1-14)

      

     This is a picture of a person who seeks to save themselves instead of letting God’s man Jesus Christ save them. Jesus Christ is the sacrifice that washes away all sin, give it to Him. You cannot do the sacrifice. You cannot save yourself. The fact that you think you can save yourself or help God save you, or rid yourself of sin, is proof that you do not realize how wretched you and I are. Saul did not see the depth of the evil in the people who corrupted the land, and he did not see the reason why he could not do the sacrifice for himself. You do not want to stand before God, doing the sacrifice for yourself.

       

     Next we see that Saul went forth to battle; as king his main job was to remove the evil from the land, especially as it resided in the Canaanite people who lived there before. Their past associations, with demonic entities, and demonic bloodlines utterly corrupted them, and Saul was to totally destroy them, and everything about them. If he left anything it would become a thorn in the side of the people of God. But, Saul did not do it. (1 Sam. 15:1-34)

      

     Likewise, we are to be broken by our own past sin and wickedness in our “land” or lives. We are totally depraved and evil. We are in the camp of the Enemy, and associating with demons. We are to realize this about ourselves, as God reveals it to us. We are to desire to get rid of this within us, even though we do not know the entire depth of our evil. We are to want God to wipe it out and cleanse us. Just like cleansing out the evil in the land. We want all of it gone and killed off. If we try to keep our pet sins, those things will grow up as a thorn in our side, and plague us.

      

     Saul was not totally grieved and totally opposing the enemy in Israel. He did not see how corrupted the Canaanite people were, so he allowed evil to continue. We need to desire for God to cleanse us of all unrighteousness, and remove it all from us. Things we leave behind can get worse and make us worse.  Here is where preachers will preach works. Yes, you need to struggle with the things in your life that is not pleasing to God. He often leaves those things for us to struggle with and grow from, and to keep something worse from coming upon us. But, you must realize that you cannot get rid of Sin yourself. Only He can do that. Only he can kill it all. Give it to Him. Like Paul’s thorn in the side, His grace is sufficient for us. There are things we won’t get rid of, but we must still desire for it all to be gone.

     

      The fourth thing is that Saul went to seek help or instruction, or salvation from something other than God. He sought help from the enemy or demonic entities, not God. (1 Sam. 28:1-25)

     

      Likewise, we humans often seek salvation, help, wisdom, comfort, peace, or anything else from things other than God. If your help comes from anything other than God, then you have rejected Him, and embraced the enemy. I’m not saying that we cannot study many subjects, but it needs to be under God’s guidance, and be looked at through the lens of what He wants us to know to be true. We reject God in many ways in our lives. We sin. We have idols. But, that is not the same as totally rejecting God. Just turn back to Him, and tell Him about it, asking Him to forgive and save you.

     

      So, that’s the bottom line. Saul is a picture of a person who God has called, and even did miracles for, but he never really accepted God. The person never saw how wicked they are, or to have the evil removed from the ‘land” of their life.  He is a picture of someone who sought to solve the problem of sin for himself instead of trusting God, and letting God make the sacrifice through Jesus Christ.

      

     He is a picture of someone who sought salvation everywhere but with God, and found the Enemy and death instead. We must realize how utterly evil we are and throw ourselves on God’s mercy confessing Jesus is the Lord, and letting Him save us. Anything else would be like Saul. (Romans 10:9-10)

     

      I would like to add that Saul is an example of God using His Word to show us layers of truth. Because, while everything I said above is 100% true. It is also true that Saul is a picture of the Anti-Christ to come. It is a picture of what is coming upon the Earth, before the return of Jesus.

      

     First, like Israel in the story, the world will be lawless, and the people will reject God, and desire a King to rule over them. God will let them have their own way, and the King that they elect will be the Anti-Christ. He will be anointed as their savior in times of trouble. He will prophecy, and have a form of godliness, and spirituality, but not from God.

      

     Second, he will stop all efforts to remove evil from the land. He will oppose all that’s good, and make war with the saints, and overcome them. He will let the evil one have his way, and grow.

    

      Third, he will make the sacrifice himself, in the temple of God. He will claim to be God most high.

     

      Finally, he will open himself up to an evil Spirit, which will be Lucifer himself. And he will be destroyed in battle.

      

     These things are coming quickly. Be determined in your work to serve the Lord, and lead people to know Him. Get on fire, and step out. He will be with you.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called "The Future is Coming" and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

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Photo by the Author. The Bald Knob Cross of Peace in Southern Illinois.

The Truth of the Gospel

 The Truth of the Gospel

A Word on How God Works in Our Salvation

In order to understand the Gospel. We must accept God's power and authority. God has awesome power and can save whoever He wants. However He wants.

1. God calls us. No one is saved without first being called by Him. If you are saved. Then you are called. God calls everyone. If you are reading this, then you are being called. God uses many methods to call us and draw us to Himself. He might call us many times in life. He calls everyone. 

 

God speaks into our mind and hearts. When He calls we hear it and we know it's Him. We can either accept or reject.

We might not understand. We might not want to hear Him. We might put it off, or reject, but we cannot say He didn't call, and we didn't hear. He is God. He knows. Be real.

But what about the guy in the jungle somewhere?  Yes. God has called him somehow, and he has heard. Perhaps he looked at a starry night and thought someone made this, and God spoke to him and said "I made it" and the man believed and wanted to know more.  

 

Whether he accepted or not is between him and God. Not all saved people will look like you.

God is working. Trust Him.

2. Belief!  A person hears the call and believes it's from God (or Something. Full understanding is not required) and the person turns to God (repent) God knows, God sees, God understands. Whether we do or not is irrelevant. 

The picture in the scriptures is Jesus calling His disciples. He said, "come follow me" and they knew they should listen and they followed. They did not know the cost. They just heard and followed. Jesus did not require anything else.

Another picture is the prodigal son. He "comes to himself" and goes home in humility to the father, and the father comes running. The father demanded nothing. When the son woke up, that is what happens when we hear the call. We realize the Truth.

Another picture is the thief on the cross. He was guilty. He knew it. He was one step above death. And he realized who Jesus really was. He heard the call in his heart and woke up. He called Jesus "Lord" and put his faith in him. Nothing else.

Just turn to God and trust in Him. Be real with Him. Just ask.

3. God will bring you to Jesus Christ. It might happen immediately or it might happen later. But, God will show you that Jesus Christ is the Lord. When we see it, we confess Jesus is the Lord and believe God raised Him from the dead. ( Roman's 10:9-10)

When you hear the call, then turn to God and confess Jesus is the Lord, putting your faith in Him for salvation you are saved. You cannot lose it or give it away. God holds it. He owns you. Your salvation is totally on God. Not you.

4 What about works?  Faith without works is dead?  Well, confessing Jesus is Lord with your mouth is a work. And that's all God requires. Your faith and confession of Christ.

When you get saved The Holy Spirit comes to dwell in you and He teaches you. He grows you. He helps you in your relationship with Jesus.

He leads you into works. He leads you into Baptism which is a work..  He leads you into Communion which is a work. He leads you into Fellowship with other believers . He gives you a hunger to read God's Word.. The Holy Spirit helps you to Love God and others. He gives you a ministry to serve God and others

 

5. Sin and sanctification. Notice I said nothing about sin so far. Because before we are saved we do not really know how fallen We are. We do not know how wicked we are. Sure we might realize something is wrong. Or that we do things wrong. But we do not fully know.

And we are not required to. God knows. He calls us, and loves us anyway. He wants us to turn to Him and confess Jesus is the Lord, so He can save us and cleanse us.

But we are not required to understand all that. We might know we sin. We might know we fail. We might know we need Him. But, we might not understand. We just know He called us. And we need Him.

After we get saved. God washes us in the Blood of Christ. This cleanses us of all sin. Forever.

 

It is finished.

Then as we walk through our lives, the Holy Spirit teaches us and grows us. He molds us and shapes us and we become different people. We sin less and less as He sanctifies us. But, we were already forgiven the day we were saved.

When we sin we confess our sins to God. This is a work. This brings it up between you and Him. And as you keep confessing over time, the Lord changes your mind and heart and you find that you no longer do those things. Confessing sin to God and growing and abiding in Him is a work. But you were saved the minute you turned to Him.

It's all totally God. Not you. We are to turn, believe, confess and abide.  All of which He helps us to do.

Praise Jesus. God does it. He has made it as simple as possible. We have no excuse.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called "The Future is Coming" and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

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Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

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The New World Order Anti-Christ Kingdom

 The New World Order Anti-Christ Kingdom

A Word on Prophecy 

What is it? Well in my view, it begins at some point before time; when Lucifer decided to be “As the most high God.” (Isa. 14:12-20, Ezek. 28:1-19) He and an untold vast number of angels and spiritual beings of various sorts rebelled against God, becoming infected with Sin and fell.
      
     The war had begun and Satan, driven mad by pride and the plague of Sin that had come upon him, wanted to be God. He started working to replace, mimic and steal God’s Creation. He moved upon the humans God had created and led them to fall from God, and rebel as well.
      
     He did this by promising them that “Ye shall be as gods”. He told them that God was hiding something from them, and that they could know what it is, and become gods in the process. That idea is what continues to fuel the New World Order Anti-Christ Kingdom. It is the idea that humans will evolve to become gods, and that we will create a world that will match our god status. (Gen. 3)
      
     When mankind fell, Satan gained dominion over the Earth. He and those angels who follow him came to Earth to take physical possession of what is theirs. They took the women of the Cainite race, from the line of Cain. Those who had fallen prey to a deceptive global religion, which grew into a global empire that sucked all humans into it. This included the line of Seth who mingled with them.   
     This same thing is occurring today; an ideology that is really a religion that is helping to grow a system. While believers are drawn into it as well, and mingle with them.
      
     God wiped out that former world wide system with a Global Flood. We can see evidence of this Flood, and the old empire today. But, the enemy began re-building the system God had wiped out in the Flood, and led the entire world to build the Tower of Babel, which is another picture of what is going on today. A global system being built that opposes God. That system was again destroyed by God; He does not want unity apart from Himself through Christ. The languages of humans became confused and they spread out globally to their own places, before a great cataclysm broke up the continents, and separated everyone.
    
      The Enemy again, began to build his system through his earthly minions. He led to the creation of more world empires, throughout the planet; Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and many others throughout history. All of them working for the same goal, whether they knew it or not. They are all part of the same system. They were ruled by demons, and human royalty who worked on the New World Order till Christ came and broke their yoke of bondage on mankind in the spirit.
      
     But after Christ, the enemy continued to spread global empires over and over again. He created religions and twisted human beliefs, over and over again, seeking to pull humanity together and keep them from God. Through secret societies, mystery schools, finances, corporations, religions, warfare, government, media, arts, education, intelligence communities, and deceptions of all kinds he has worked to create this system.
      
     It continues to grow, and to gain more control, and pull people together while the whole world waits for a superman to come and save us. To save us from the evil we have created. To save us from what Satan has deceived us into bringing upon ourselves. So, that he can bring us the final solution. The final answer to all our problems, he created. It will be the final deception that leads to ultimate destruction; The Superman, The Anti-Christ and his world system.
      
     The stage is set, the people are ready, and it’s coming soon. Only to be ultimately destroyed by the Lord Himself, at His glorious return. Even so, come Lord Jesus.

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Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called "The Future is Coming" and is a collection of dystopian short stories.

Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/

Buy a cup of Coffee

Support the work on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=13514235&fan_landing=true&view_as=public

Photo by the writer. The Washington Monument in Washington D.C.  One of 3 obelisks of power. One in the Vatican, one in the city of London and one in D.C.