Assurance of Salvation

If we are not sure of our salvation, then we are relying on, even in the smallest way, something other than his all-sufficient sacrifice. What is to doubt? Have we been good enough? Is there something in us that is not quite right? Of course we are not good enough and of course there is something not quite right. There are major “not quite right” issues about us and about who we are. We will never measure up?

What is the doubt? It’s root is based in something in us. There is something deficient. Perhaps we have doubts or fears or perhaps we have strayed. However (and this is the point) Jesus has done it all. There is nothing for us to do except to sin. We can do no good apart from Him. Our part is the sin part. Do we continue to sin? Yes. That is our part. What is His part? Everything. Our part? Sin. Period. No discussion. No question. Christ is righteousness. We are sin. But what can we do about it? Nothing. Then what is our hope? Jesus. So what do we do next? Sin. Then what? Sin more. What more can there be? Nothing, but the blood of the All-Sufficient and Ever-Cleansing Blood of Jesus. That is all. That is enough. It is sufficient. Thank you, Jesus!

Justice for Caylee Anthony

Why do the evil prosper? It is a question we ask over and over. Where is the answer as we look across the landscape of our world today? The wicked continue to perform their evil acts and go unpunished. Liars and cheats prevail and get rich while the poor and the honest seem to reap what the others sow. Where is the justice? 

Be assured that there is justice in the world. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lives and He is a just God. Those who do not believe in a god may believe they can "get away with murder", but God is the great accountant from above. His debits and His credits will indeed equal. Those who appear to prosper from their wicked and unpunished deeds will reap what they sow. 

There is justice, but not from man. We can create no Utopian society here and now. Heaven is just that. It is made by God who believes that the acts of man must be punished in order for there to be true justice. But it is not just the murderers and rapists who will be punished. All of us sin continually. There is none righteous, not even one. We have all gone astray; every one to his own way. We all deserve God's punishment for our cosmic treason and our wicked ways. The only escape is to have faith in the One who did not sin; the One who died, so that we may live. His name is Jesus. Trust in Him and you will not get justice. You will get mercy. Thank God.

casey

Muslims, Christians, and Jews. Oh My!

According to an Islamic apologetic, Islam worships the same God as the Christian God. This may also be said of other religions. There are many paths to the same God, right? These different religions just get there in different ways.

GodAllah.com: "Is 'Allah' the same god of the Jews and Christians?

Yes. The word in Hebrew came from 'El' and in Arabic from 'Elh'. The word for 'god' (note the small 'g' in English) is 'Elah'. Compare this to 'Eloi' and 'Eli' in the New Testament.

The word 'Allah' is the perfect word to describe the God of Jews and Christians as it does not permit gender nor plural.

How about the God of the Mormons and Jehovah Witnesses? What about the Hindus and the Buddhists? Aren't they all sincerely seeking after God?

God of the Christians:

The God of the Christians is a Trinity. God is One. However, there are three Persons in this One God. Each person in the Trinity is fully God. One may not see one part of the Christian God as God, but not the others. These three persons are indivisible.

The triquetra symbol shown here illustrates how something can be distinguished or separated, but remain the same object.

The three persons are the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. They are the One God. To belabor the point, Jesus Christ, born 2000 ago, is God in the Triune Godhead. 

Whether you believe this or not or whether you understand this or not is not necessarily the point here. The point is that any god that deviates from this definition of the Christian God is a different god. All roads cannot lead to different gods.

So the conclusion is quite simple in comparison. Let us see if they pass the "Jesus is God/part of the Trinity" test to see if they are looking to find the same God.

Muslims: Jesus is a prophet, but was not God.
Conclusion: Not the same God as the Christian God.

Jews: Jesus was a prophet, but was not God.
Conclusion: Not the same God as the Christian God.
Note: The God of the Old Testament (The Jewish Bible) is the same God. Those faithful Jews before Jesus was born looked forward to a Messiah; One who would pay for there sins in a conclusive way rather than the sacrifice of bulls and goats. Today, the Jewish faith does not look back to Jesus. Therefore, today's Jewish god is not the Christian God.

How about other "Christian" faiths?

Mormons: Jesus is not part of the Trinity. He is the first born of the god of this Earth who was once a man just as we are today. If we have faith, then we too will one day be the god of our own planet.
Conclusion: Not the same God as the Christian God. They are not Christians.



Hinduism: Jesus is a teacher, but not God.
Conclusion: Not the same God as the Christian God.

Buddhism: Jesus was enlighted, but not God.
Conclusion: Not the same God as the Christian God.
Note: Buddhists do not believe in life after death.

Jehovah's Witnesses: Jesus is Michael, the archangel.
Conclusion: Not the same God as the Christian God. They are not Christians.

Bottom Line: There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man and  God, Christ Jesus. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. Without Jesus, Jesus as God/part of the One God-Trinity, there is no "same path". They are worshiping something other than the Christian God. Consequently, they are on a path that leads to a destination that is different than the Christian path no matter how sincere they are or how hard they seek. For there is only One Way, no one comes to the Father except through Jesus. Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name by which we may be saved.

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Joel Osteen Cannot Say Whether Atheists or If Anyone is Going to Hell

In this video, Joel Osteen is given many opportunities to say that Jesus is the only Way to heaven as is taught by orthodox, historic Christianity:


How are a few verses that indicate that Jesus is the only Way:

(Acts 4:12)  "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
(John 8:24)  "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."
(1 Cor 3:11)  For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
(1 Tim 2:5)  For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
(John 14:6)  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

There are more, of course. The bible is clear. Jesus is the only Way to the Father (heaven). All others will, sadly, be in hell. We must pray for as many that have ears to hear will hear.

Are there Different Paths to God?

There are multiple paths to the same God. This is the standard answer I get from others when discussing other religions. Consequently, the Hindu and the Mormon, the Muslim and the Spiritualist, they will all get there along with the Christian, but just on different paths.

But, let us not answer that question. Let’s answer a different question.

Are there different paths that Christians take to God? Does the Christian God allow various Christians to “find” Him in different ways? Some believe that we find God in various ways. Others believe that God finds us in specific ways. However, how do the folks in sacred scripture come to believe?

God chose Israel as His people.

Jesus chose Paul on the road to Damascus where he was going to persecute the church and kill Christians.

Jesus chose each one of his disciples. Judas, the son of perdition, was even chosen to betray Him.

God chose David to be king of Israel.

If God did indeed choose these individuals to Himself, how then do the rest of us come to God? If we choose God and the individuals such as Paul were chosen by God, then there must be at least two different ways to come to God: 1) God chooses some, and 2) others choose God.

If it is both, then God is inconsistent in the “paths” to God. If we choose God, then one must ask what good is there in us prior to our conversion that chooses God? Considering this is the greatest choice, or the greatest good, anyone can do in this life, where does this good come from considering we are dead in our sins, sinful since birth? The only clear answer is that God chooses us even while were were sinners. He transforms our will that was formally at enmity against Him and makes us born again, new creatures in Christ, who can now choose to do good. Our wills are changed so much, we can even believe that we did the choosing in the first place. The only response to this is unhindered praise and thanks to God through Christ Jesus who, due to nothing found in ourselves, chose us to be with Him. Praise God it was not left up to us!

Epiphany

Just this past Monday, I had an epiphany. I was thinking about my deathbed as I oftentimes find myself doing when I wondered what would I be reaching for at that time. What type of assurance would I have that I am going to heaven? At that time, it would be difficult to go back and to assess all the "good" that I did over my life since there is little good to review. I believe I would need to solely rely on the good that Jesus did. That I would only be able to trust in Him. But that wasn't all...

I went to a small group meeting just one day before that when it was presented to me that the theophanies (God-sightings) in the old testament were really Christophanies (Christ-sightings); even when Moses was in the cleft of the rock and the hind-parts of God passed by creating an almost unbearable radiance. This is Jesus! He is God, the Radiant One! He said, if you see Me you have seen the Father. What an incredible Saviour. Most of the time, I think of him dying on a cross and performing various miracles, but to find that His radiance is overwhelming is, well, overwhelming. But that wasn't all...

Reading Luther's commentary on Ephesians, it is apparent that our works are as rags. There is no Law, but only Christ or His fulfillment of that Law.

Putting all of this together, I realized, why wait until my death bed to fully trust in Jesus alone. Yesterday I evaluated whether I was a Christian based on the good that I did. That would be a good indicator. How much did I study His Word; another good indicator. How did I treat others; another good indicator, etc, etc. But that is not it. Its not about me, my feelings, the "good" that I do, it is all and only about what Jesus did 2000 years ago. That is all I can rely on. Nothing else on my deathbed and nothing else today. Nothing I feel, do, and even think matters. The only thing that matters is Christ and Him crucified. So now, I can stop wondering and live in the liberty that is mine through Christ and what He has done.

One Way?

Response to oped:
In the Reverend Paul Downie’s July 3 opinion article, he tells us that Barak Obama is a beautiful Christian. However the Reverend’s premise is based on Obama’s words that there are “many paths” to God. If this is correct, then all of these “paths” must be true. Does that make sense? Are all religions around the world true? Buddhism does not believe in God at all; Mormons believe we (they) will be gods of their own planets; Muslims believe that Allah is the one true God and that Muhammad is his prophet; Scientologists believe that we are all “thetans”-immortal spirits with unlimited powers we are not all aware of; and Hindus believe in perpetual reincarnation until we reach “Nirvana”. I could go on. Are these all true? They are, in fact, contradictory. And they are in direct opposition to Christianity which is quite exclusive. The Reverend cites John 14:6 which says that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. No one goes to the father except through him. The Reverend says that this exclusive statement depends upon how it is heard. Actually it depends on how it was said and who said it. There are many other exclusive statements in the Christian bible. A simple test is Jesus’ own prayer just before going to the cross. He prays that if there were any other way, to let this event pass. But, there was no other way. Jesus had to endure the cross, bear the brunt of God’s wrath for our sins, die and overcome death for our sakes. If this was not necessary, if one could believe in Muhammad, Buddah, Moronia, whomever or whatever, then God the Son would not have had to pay such a terrible and horrific price. No other religion has a solution for the consequences of our sins. Only Christianity has a Savior - who still saves even today. Reverend Downie, please read Galatians 1:8.