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The Two Possible Paths

April 5th, 2011 . Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

There are only two paths available for us to take on this journey of life. One path takes us closer to God and His purpose for us. The other path takes us away from God and His purpose. Both paths have their own destinations. There is a path that goes through a strait gate and has the narrow way that few will find. This narrow path will always lead to life. (Matthew 7-13-14) The narrow path isn’t a popular path because it requires us to deny ourselves while completely giving ourselves to what God wants for us. (Mark 8-34) The good news is that the Lord always wants what is best for us because He is motivated by a selfless love for us. (Jeremiah 29:11-12) The path leading to life is a disciplined path that causes us to improve ourselves continually while surrendering to and serving the Lord out of love and thanksgiving for so great a salvation. (Hebrews 2:2–3) The destination of this path leading to life was purchased by the Lord Himself, by His own sinless blood.

The other path is a broad and popular path that many will choose. It is a path that promises self fulfillment, great fun, no discipline, many indulging parties, the best of entertainment, money and its pleasures, sensuality and promiscuity, perhaps even drugs and other mind altering experiences.  Generally a life of permissiveness and indulgence. Perhaps because this popular path promises so much fun and excitement, this path with the help of media and other powers shaping it, will always have many partakers who indulge themselves and try to convince you to join them.  The problem is that this broad path will always lead to eternal sorrow and death.  (Matthew 7:13)

The Lord’s Word tells us that if we love Him, we will obey His commandments. This Scripture implies that by loving the Lord, He will empower us with His Holy nature (Spirit) to obey his commandments out of that love. A wonderful truth to know is that all of God’s commandments are fulfilled by basically two:  The Lord our God is One and love the Lord with all our hearts, minds, souls and strength. The second being similar, love our neighbor as we love ourselves. If we love God, we won’t use His name in vain, we won’t idolize anything that we worship instead of Him and we will want to please Him with our lives as we serve Him. If we love our neighbor, we won’t hurt them, we won’t steal from them, we won’t murder them or do them wrong in any way, but instead we will want the best for them. Love is patient, kind and selfless.

It all comes down to our choice.  A life that is based on a relationship with the Lord Jesus and obedience to his instructions will lead to a heavenly life with Him a wonderful place prepared for us and joy unspeakable. A life that is based on self-gratification is an indication that we are traveling down the broad path leading to destruction. The way we live and the choices we make day by day determines which destination we have chosen. Do we choose life or do we choose death?  Remember that our actions will always determine the choice we have made and ultimately our destination.  Isn’t it amazing that the Bible has a Book of Acts and not a Book of good intentions? What will you choose? Life or death?

Is baptism in water necessary for the salvation of our souls?

December 26th, 2010 . Posted in Apostolic Christian Thought 10 on Baptism, Biblical Teaching (All posts) | No Comments »

Absolutely!
The Bible tells us that we must be born again of the water and the Spirit to be saved and enter into the kingdom of God. (John 3 & 5)
1st Peter 3:20-21 states that the ark built by Noah to escape the flood sent by God, was a type of being saved by water by following in obedience to God’s instructions, which now saves us. Let’s look at all the places where the Bible says that we must be born of the water completely immersed in water in the name of Jesus Christ for the salvation of our souls.

The Book of Acts in verse 2:38 states that baptism in the name of Jesus Christ remits (forgives) us of our sins. Since there will be no sin that will enter into heaven as stated in Revelation 21:27, all of our sins must be dealt with and eradicated from our records kept in Heaven before we can go there; therefore, baptism in water in the name of Jesus Christ is an absolute necessity. Acts 19-2-5 Paul re-baptizes followers of John the Baptist in the name of Jesus Christ.
Mark 16:16 states that believers that are baptized shall be saved.

Jesus Christ gave instruction to baptize in the name of the Father, Son & Holy Ghost in Matthew 28:19. Note that no one was ever baptized in the name Father, Son and Holy Spirit as documented in the Bible and also note that the Apostles of Lord only baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. The only saving name is Jesus. The titles of “Father, Son, & Holy Spirit” merely were a teaching by Jesus of Who He was and is. (Colossians 2:9)

The original Greek word used for baptism is the word “baptizdo” which means to completely immerse or cover into water. If the word used were “raptizdo” which means to sprinkle with water, then sprinkling would be an acceptable form of baptism.

Since the symbol used for baptism in the Bible is that of burial, the person being baptized must be completely immersed or buried in water with the name Jesus Christ spoken over them since Jesus is the sinless lamb who died for our sins and then rose from the dead. (Hebrews 4:15)
According to the Bible, we must do everything in word or deed in the name of Jesus Christ. (Colossians 3:17)

What drives this point home is the fact that the name Jesus literally means ‘Yahweh or Jehovah (the self-existent One) has become my salvation! That is why the angel told Mary to name the child that would be conceived in her by the Holy Spirit, Jesus because He would save His people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)

We truly accept Jesus and His so great salvation when we repent (ask forgiveness and forsake our sins) and take on His holy saving name in water baptism. He accepts us when He seals us by filling us with His Holy Spirit. It is then that the salvation process of justification is complete, and we can begin the sanctification process by walking and growing in holiness or separation unto God.

Freedom is a fight worth fighting

October 24th, 2010 . Posted in Apostolic Church thought 9 | No Comments »

There are a few things in this life that are worth giving yourself completely for: survival is one, the protection of those you love from harm is another, and the protection of your freedom. In America, a lot of blood has been spilled for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. There’s no doubt that once you taste of freedom, from that moment on are unwilling to settle for anything less. I would rather be a soldier and fight for my freedom than be a prisoner or slave any day!

In like manner freedom from sin and its penalty has cost a tremendous payment of blood, but not just any blood. It had to be the blood of a sinless and perfect substitute. Just as it states in the Book of Acts in 20:28 that the church was purchased by the blood of the Holy Ghost, we understand that Jesus Christ of Nazareth was the only human born with the sinless blood of God. As stated in the Bible, only the sinless blood of a sinless human could fulfill the penalty required by God to redeem mankind out of sin. Once born again into the family of Jesus through our repentance, our baptism in Jesus name and our infilling of the divine nature of Christ as accounted by the Bible, only then can we quit being slaves to sin, and become soldiers in Heaven’s army in a spiritual battle between good and evil.

Our delivered souls will now will face multiple adversaries trying to destroy our relationship with Jesus Christ: the first is our own fallen sinful nature, then this sinful world system, and also the fallen angels bent on destroying us. Once our record of sin has been completely cleansed by baptism in Jesus name and we have been filled with the divine sinless nature of Christ, we then strive to walk free from sin and its power over us. The Bible tells us that we are the servant to whatever we obey, whether righteousness unto God, or sin unto death (Roman 6:16).

This spiritual war against darkness is truly the fight of our very eternal existence. Doing the right thing especially when it is easier and seemingly more accepted in this world to do the wrong thing isn’t easy for anyone. Walking with the Lord against the pull of this world will cost us something, but whatever the cost, it is always worth it. As for me, I would rather fight darkness as a soldier on the side of light than be a slave to darkness and lost forever with that darkness. Freedom is truly worth the fight!

Worship, Praise and Thanksgiving

September 1st, 2010 . Posted in Apostolic Chrisitan thought 8, Biblical Teaching (All posts) | No Comments »

The words thanksgiving, praise and worship are usually used interchangeably by those in or out of church, but they have three completely different meanings. The Bible admonishes everyone to enter into His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise (Psalm 100:4). Please note that anyone can thank God. As a matter of fact, giving thanks needs no understanding of how good the one being thanked is. If someone holds a door for you, or does any nice thing for you, it doesn’t matter what kind of person they are for us to thank them. We can thank others or God for any reason. Giving thanks requires no relationship at all.

The Bible admonishes for everything that has breath to praise the Lord (Psalm 150:6). This means that trees can praise God, birds can praise their Creator, dogs and cats can praise God, and of course people can praise the Lord. Praise is only possible to those who know something good about the one they are praising. The same way we can praise a star athlete or singer because of how good of a performer they are, we can praise God for making a world for us to live in and air to breathe. Please note that praise denotes some kind of movement or some kind of action. The many Hebrew words used in Scripture that translate as praise can mean everything from lifting our hands, clapping our hands, dancing before the Lord, shouting unto God with a voice of triumph and other actions words. Anyone can praise with a dance or simply sing a song from your heart unto God. You have know something about the goodness of God to truly praise Him.

Although anyone can thank God and anything or anyone can praise God, worship denotes the need for a relationship with God. With worship we are offering God our love and adoration. We offer our obedience to Him and His Word (Genesis 22:5; John 14:15). Worship is what God has been looking from those who are willing to worship Him in spirit (human spirit) and in truth (John 4:23-24). Worship implies giving of ourselves and intimacy.

Obeying the Lord with one’s whole heart is the beginning of worship and is the beginning of a relationship with Him. The first step is to believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that will diligently seek after Him (Hebrews 11:6). This relationship with God begins with a choice to repent of our wrong doings by putting our lives in His hands, then being baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins while at the same time, taking on His saving name, and then diligently seeking to receive the gift of His Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of speaking in a language uttered through us by His Holy Spirit. The worship continues by communicating with Him while listening for His guiding voice. Only the ones that love God enough to obey Him are they that truly worship Him in spirit and in Truth.

What is truly amazing about this good news is that once we enter into this realm of relationship with Him, we tremendously benefit by entering into His unspeakable joy which is quite awesome to experience. It is now my privilege to enter into Heavenly places with the lover of my soul.

Has Jesus Christ abandoned His church for 2000 years?

June 22nd, 2010 . Posted in Biblical Teaching (All posts) | No Comments »

No, I do not believe that.  As a matter of fact, I know that the Lord has never been one to abandon His people, even though they lost their way on many occasions.  It has always been humanity that has walked away from God and His ways.  It is as if the Lord led us in a certain direction with specific instructions, and although many initially followed, because of different agendas including power and politics, a different direction was begun and embraced. After many generations of error, human tradition replaced truth.  Is it right to follow the way that an emperor of Rome established long ago which doesn’t follow the plain teachings of Jesus Christ and the Holy Bible? It is right to call it Christianity even though it doesn’t follow what the Apostles practiced and demonstrated? Of course it is not. There is a way that seems right to a man but the way thereof is death. (Proverbs 14:12) Because the Lord loves us so much and longs for us to turn from our own selfish ways, which sums up humanity, and turn completely to Him, God therefore will continue sending His messengers to help reach a lost world of precious souls.

Unfortunately many will not seek the Kingdom with childlike surrender and trust, and obey the plain instructions that were given to us through the apostles and the prophets. Obedience has always been the most difficult step of repentance with the total surrender of our will and replacing it with what God wants for us. Notice that he doesn’t want us as His servants but as His friends.  However, Jesus said plainly, “if you love me, obey my commandments”. (John 14:15-23) I believe that we are the only creation of God with the ability to love as God loves, and also given the gift of free will. This means we choose whether to love or not.  It is completely up to us whether we love God and obey His ways, or follow our own paths that will lead to destruction.  Because our own will is usually the loudest voice to us, and because our will and human mind are already at war with God according to Romans 8:7 which states: “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be,” scriptures such as this one let us know why the Lord stated that the way of this a narrow path that leads to life, and few will find it. Yet many will follow a broad path leading to destruction according to the Lord Himself. (Matthew 7:13) The truth of the Word of God shows and tells of our human condition of a backslidden state as in the Book of Malachi that shows when fallen humanity asks God questions such as, “What have we done that is so wrong?” or “How does it benefit us to serve you?”  Because of the love for us that we cannot fully understand, Jesus will continue to call until the day of His choosing to redeem His people from the wrath to come on this world with the mystery of God finally being revealed to mankind. He will always have a called out body of believers who have completely sold out to His ways, and love Him for Who He is by obeying Him. However the choice is completely up to us to enter into His family by being truly born again of the water and the Spirit.

Do I believe that the mainstream Christian Church has lost its way? Let me be very specific with my answer. I believe that the mainstream church that is revolving around itself and its own selfish appetites and desires for riches and ‘blessings’, has indeed lost its way. Can a person give enough financial offering to be forgiven of sins? Is there any other God that is worthy of being prayed to and worshiped? Absolutely not! Yet the mainstream church has added these and other provisions for indulgences. What about those churches that state that baptism in water by immersion is not necessary for salvation, but merely a public admission of faith into a ‘church’ in spite of the commandment of the Apostles declare plainly to repent and be baptized everyone of you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit! (Acts 2:38) Or perhaps they haven’t read the Scripture in 1 Peter 3:21 that states: “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:”

Is there hope? Absolutely there is still hope. The true church is still on the Earth filled with Christ in us, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27) There is a great awakening happening in the world in the midst of a shaking that is going on with wars and rumors of wars, increasing earthquakes, and the weather going somewhat crazy as it was prophesied. There is a hunger that is in the hearts and minds of mankind, to be filled with the missing part which is the Spirit of God that can not be substituted with anything else. This is why Spirit filled churches are growing very quickly as traditional churches are literally dying, especially among the younger people. I believe that a person who is truly hungry for the truth will know the truth when he or she hears it.

So what is true?  Jesus declaring dogmatically that you must be born again to see or perceive the Kingdom of God is still true. You must be born of the water and of the Spirit to enter into the Kingdom of God is still true. This journey begins with faith to believe God at His Word and make a decision to obey by repenting, being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, for this promise is for you and all that are far off, even as many as the Lord calls to Himself. (Acts 2:38-39) My challenge for you is to search this truth out for yourself. As my pastor told me long ago, “if I don’t know the Truth for myself, I will then believe anything, right or wrong”. Is there anyone who wants to reconnect to the Creator and source of mankind and all creation? His name is Jesus which literally means Jehovah has become my salvation, and He is still knocking on many hearts right now!  Why not begin this wonderful journey of following Him by doing what He said to do?

This is my body that is broken for you. The church and the bread of life.

April 13th, 2010 . Posted in Apostolic Christian thought 7, Biblical Teaching (All posts) | No Comments »
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One of the many purposes of the church is to help feed spiritually hungry and thirsty people with the presence of God Himself.   Luke 22:19 says:  And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, ‘This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.’  This is expounded upon in 1st Corinthians 11:24 which states:  And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.  This passage takes on a whole new meaning when we understand how bread was made at the time of Jesus Christ. This bread made by the Jewish people for the Passover celebration, was made without using yeast as instructed in the Law of Moses. As the Bible states in Exodus 12:15: for seven days the Jewish followers of God were to remove all the leaven (yeast) from their homes.  The Bible in many ways symbolizes leaven with sin.  The Bible is full of symbols which help us to understand the purpose and ways of God.
The Passover celebration began with the Feast of Unleavened Bread which commemorated the day that the Lord delivered His people out of slavery. The people had to cleanse themselves by voluntarily removing the leaven from their homes. They were also commanded to sacrifice a lamb without blemish and use its blood to apply to the two sides and top post of their door so that the death angel, which was bringing judgment to Egypt, would pass over them. (Exodus 12:07)  Please note that the crucifixion of Jesus Christ happened on a Passover because He was the fulfillment of the Passover Lamb given to deliver His people from the bondage of sin and its following judgment to come. Note that the Bible teaches in 2nd Peter 2:19 that whoever gives themselves to sin, is in bondage to sin.   It is easy to see the symbolism between the blood of the Passover lamb and the blood of Jesus Christ, but what about the unleavened bread being His body.  Examining how this bread was made gives us insight to the symbols used.

The first ingredient for this unleavened bread is wheat. The wheat had to be first harvested as do the souls of mankind. The salvation of the soul has to begin with the choice of the person in repentance.  Out of the wheat stalk, only about 20% of it was actually wheat. The remaining 80% is stalk and chaff which will be either thrown away or used for something else but not eaten.

After the harvesting, the wheat went to the threshing or sifting floor where it was continued to be cleansed of impurities.  The wheat was heavier than the chaff so the wheat would fall immediately to the floor while the lighter chaff would blow away in the wind. This sifting would continue over and over until it became as clean as it possibly could with this type of cleansing. In like manner, we believers have to be sure not to let misunderstandings or offenses blow us out of the body of the church.

In the next step, the wheat was crushed into a body of flour.  After this crushing, there were no more individual kernels of wheat. The more crushed this body of flour, the better the bread ultimately was.
I find it fascinating that one of the fruit of the Spirit is meekness which literally means selflessness.

After this process the flour was mixed with oil to become dough.  In this process the oil and flour became an inseparable compound. Oil in the Scriptures many times represents the Spirit of God as in the many references to anointing oil.  In one instance oil was used to represent joy as mentioned in Isaiah 61:03.

Next the dough was placed into an oven over fire to bake into bread.  Finally the bread was broken to feed the hungry.  Hot bread that is right out of the oven has always been the best in my humble opinion.

We must remember that the Scriptures many times  uses the physical realm that we can understand, to explain Spiritual things that are hard for us to understand. The symbolism in this broken bread symbol is quite amazing in that the Bible tells us that the church is the body of Christ.  Jesus also called the Passover bread His body.  As part of Christ’s body that is in process, we should not be surprised at the fiery trials that we find ourselves in, but should count it all joy as the Scriptures tell us in 1st Peter 4:12.  The Lord Jesus said to Peter that satan wanted to sift him as wheat in Luke 22:31.  All of us that have committed ourselves to the Lord and the work will be sifted as wheat at times. We will then be crushed by circumstances of life.  Life itself will bring many of the fiery trials that bake the bread.  Just as we think that the difficulties will stop, we are broken for someone else to benefit. Our testimonies of what Jesus does for us gives hope and builds faith for those we tell our experiences to. As the selfishness in us decreases, the Lord will increase in us which benefits everyone around us.  As we build God a highway in our lives for Him to work in and through us, God’s very presence will bless us more than we can imagine.  The spill off from our blessings and joy will bless others around us.

The Lord by His Word said that He will not give us more pressure and trials than we can handle, but we humans truly need the purification that only comes through adversity and sifting. The good news is that one of these days the trump of God will sound! The dead in Christ will rise first then those of us that are alive and remain will be caught up together with the Lord in the air!  At that point the sifting, crushing, baking and tearing will have paid off.

With the constant news of earthquakes happening with more frequency than ever as prophesied in the Bible, we know that the earth itself is groaning and travailing until the called out ones are caught away one of these days to forever be with the Lord. (Romans 8:22)  Look up church because your redemption draws near! (Luke 21:28) Just make sure that your sins have been forgiven in Baptism in Jesus name and that you have been filled with the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ! (Acts 2:28-39) Make sure that you are a part of the church that Jesus Christ started by being a doer of His Word. Jesus Christ is truly the only ticket out of this world! (Revelation 2:17)  With all of the wonderful things that Jesus Christ has done, is doing and will do, He also makes terrific bread!

Salvation, the wedding of your soul!

February 16th, 2010 . Posted in Apostolic Christian thought 6, Biblical Teaching (All posts) | No Comments »
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In the beginning, God created everything that we see and don’t see! When God created humanity, He gave us an insight to His purpose and desire. He created mankind in His own image and then made a profound statement in Genesis 2:18, “it is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” ESV Is it possible that it is not good for God to be alone either? I know that I am in deep theological waters at this point with that question, but everything the Bible teaches us of God’s love for us and what He has done for us to be with Him, leads me to believe that His purpose ultimately includes a suitable companion for Himself.

I have noticed in the Genesis account which literally means the book of beginnings, everything that God created was pronounced ‘good’ by God. Then when He made the first marriage with Adam and Eve, for the first time His creation was ‘very good’. Notice that Eve was made from Adam and the Lord made the statement that they are one flesh.  Marriage is beautiful in that a male and a female make promises to each other, and become one flesh in the sight of God. This ‘wholeness’ is seen by God as ‘very good’.

It is interesting that the Church is called the bride of Christ. It is also an interesting allegory that the Church is also known as the body of Christ. The Church is married to Christ.  Note that the word Church literally means the ‘called out ones’.  This gives us a clearer insight to the relationship of the Lord and His Church. What other similarities are there?  In a marriage, the woman usually takes on the name of her husband and they exchange rings as a symbol of their commitment. To enter into the church of the living God, we take on the name of Jesus in baptism and God seals us with the gift of the infilling of His Holy Spirit as we give ourselves as a gift to God. It is as if when we are baptized in Jesus name, we say ‘I do’ to the Lord.  When He fills us with His Spirit He says ‘I do’ to us. This is why simply accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior or confessing Him isn’t enough. Not only do we give ourselves to Him when we come to Him, but He has to accept us as well. Just as in a marriage, it must be mutual.

You may have never thought of the term being saved in the same terms as being married to Jesus Christ but according to the Bible that is exactly what it means. Just as with marriage, couples promise to stay faithful to each other. The Lord has promised to never leave us nor forsake us when we come and give ourselves to Him. In my observations it has never been the Lord who leaves; it is us that turn away from Him. When the promises are broken, one can understand what it must feel like to God to have someone turn away from Him. When we repent and turn to the Lord, we begin courting, so to speak, and the Lord begins finding us irresistible. He already loves us, but when we decide to live according to His teachings and holy ways, it shows Him our love.  He even said “If ye love me, obey my commandments “ John 14:15 KJV. Truly if we love someone, we want to do things that please them. In like manner, we don’t want to do things that displease them.

Jesus is still on the outside of many of our heart doors knocking. If we choose to open the door to Him, He will enter and share Himself with us. This is why it is called amazing love!  I have heard it said that ‘love is blind’.  I know in this case that love is all knowing, all seeing and all powerful! I believe that the Lord Jesus is quite excited about the upcoming wedding banquet that He will prepare for His bride.  I hope to see you there!  It will definitely be worth the price!

…and you will be my witnesses

February 7th, 2010 . Posted in Apostolic Christian thought 5, Biblical Teaching (All posts) | No Comments »
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What did the Lord Jesus mean by the statement, “and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8 ESV)  This was the last statement that Jesus gave before He ascended and disappeared into the heavens. Note that usually the last instruction given carries much weight and importance to the one giving it. This was ten days before the Holy Spirit was poured out and filled 120 disciples with an initial supernatural evidence of speaking in other languages as the Spirit gave them the ability.  (Acts 2)  It was after this event that those disciples started proclaiming and preaching Jesus Christ and the born again salvation plan that they had learned from the Lord Himself.  When the Lord’s salvation plan was resisted by the power hungry religious rulers of the day, they were told by their accusers,  ‘yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching’ (Acts 5:8 ESV).  These disciples obviously were making a spiritual difference after they had received the power that accompanies the infilling of the Holy Spirit. So what does this teach us about what it means to be witnesses for Jesus Christ?

Let’s note that the statement you will be my witnesses, etc. is preceded by, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.”  Evidently the ability and ‘power’ to be a witness for Jesus Christ can only come when we are filled with the Holy Spirit.  Something obviously happened to these men who initially ran for their lives when Jesus was taken to be crucified, and remained in hiding even after his resurrection. But now, after being filled with the Holy Spirit, which according to Col. 1:27 is Christ in you the hope of glory, these same followers boldly proclaimed and preached Jesus Christ to anyone they came into contact with, which caused many of these same disciples to be martyred in brutal ways! These uneducated fishermen and farmers after being filled with the Spirit of Jesus Christ, turned their world upside down with the Truth of what they were preaching.

This plainly declares to us that we must be filled with the Spirit of Jesus Christ to be witnesses for Him. He was quite adamant to His followers about not beginning their ministries until they had received the promised power of the Holy Spirit!  Remember that these same men had already received power from God to heal the sick and to cast out devils as stated in Luke 9, yet the Lord adamantly told them to stay in Jerusalem until they had received the gift of power that was promised them. The Lord knew that they would be hated for His name’s sake and all that His teachings represented.  In other words, the teaching and preaching of righteousness, submission to God’s authority and denying ourselves isn’t a popular message at all. (Matthew 21-23)

It is interesting to note that the original Greek word used for ‘witness’ is martus which is where the word martyrs comes from. Since true repentance is a form of death of our own self will, and the Lord instructs us to deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow Him, we can clearly see what the price is of being a witness. (Matthew 16:24)

This is not a popular message, but it is the Truth! As the Lord instructs, we must count the cost and then choose to live according to the Lord’s ways over our own way.  Biblical salvation may be free monetarily,  but it will cost us ourselves and everything we are to follow the Lord Jesus. This is a strait or difficult path and a narrow way, and not for the faint at heart.  The meaning of the word strait used in the Scripture in Matthew 7:13-14 is not as in a straight line, but a strait or difficult place as it means to be in dire straits. It is during these difficult times as we follow the Lord, that we can truly be a testimony and be witnesses for God. As it says in the book of Revelation in chapter 12, verse 11 “And they overcame by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”  We know that without a test, we cannot truly have a testimony!  When we choose to follow the Lord Jesus, there will tests and pressure.  A metaphor of this truth is that it takes tremendous heat and pressure to form a precious jewel!

We have to know in our hearts and make a decision that we will have and keep a true relationship with our Lord Jesus so that nothing can separate us from Him.  May the purpose of God be done through us all that choose this ultimate honor and privilege of being witnesses for Jesus Christ!  May His love flow through us to the point that others can surely say, ‘that person has been with Jesus!’

In a world that is presently filled with much hate, may we truly be witnesses of the Lord Jesus and His love.

The Son of God

January 11th, 2010 . Posted in Apostolic Chrisitan thought 4, Biblical Teaching (All posts) | No Comments »
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What does the term ‘the Son of God’ actually mean?  More importantly for our understanding, what did the term mean to the writers of the New Testament Bible? First we must understand that the New Testament was exclusively written by the followers of Jesus of Nazareth. Just as Jesus Himself was born Jewish, the authors of the New Testament were also born Jewish.

The Jews are strictly monotheistic which means the belief in one God. The ‘Shema’ is the prayer/law taught by God in the Old Testament which declares the existence on one God. You will find the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4-7 which states: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.  (KJV)

As we can see, the Bible is clear in stating that there is one God and also to make sure that this is taught to the reader’s children.  It is no doubt that the obedient Jewish family taught their children this truth given by God.

In Mark 8:27-29, Jesus of Nazareth asked His followers who other people thought that He was, they answered that some believed He was John the Baptist or Isaiah or some other prophet. When Jesus asked them directly who they thought He was, Peter answered that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God.  What this literally meant to Peter was that God had made a human body for Himself and the Everlasting Father was with them, robed in flesh. They knew from Old Testament prophecy that a child would be born of a virgin and that child would be called Emmanuel which Is translated ‘God with us’. (Isaiah 7:14) They knew according to Isaiah 9:6 that a male child would be born who would one day rule the nations and that He would actually be a wonder or miracle of a teacher, He would be El Gibor which is translated ‘God the strongest’ (Mighty God), the everlasting Father and the principality or Master of peace. Peter and the other followers were present when Jesus opened blind eyes, and many deaf received their hearing and the dead were raised to life and many other miracles that only God in flesh could do; as a result Peter knew that he was talking to the anointed One (the Christ), in other words, God in flesh . On this truth, Jesus the Christ stated that the very gates or protection of hell would not prevail against the church also translated, the called out ones.  (In that time, gates were used as a defense against outside attack)  In other words, the devil’s kingdom can’t stop this Truth. This is a truth that needs to be rediscovered in this perilous time of modern spiritual attack and deception.  The Christian church needs to receive an understanding of Who Jesus actually is!

The good news is that the Truth will still set you free even today…

The thief on the cross.

October 27th, 2009 . Posted in Apostolic Christian thought 3, Biblical Teaching (All posts) | No Comments »
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If Christian Biblical salvation is found in the Book of Acts, how is it that the thief on the cross was saved without having to be baptized in Jesus name and receiving the Holy Ghost?

Many have asked this question of myself and other Apostolic believers who believe that the Apostles of Jesus Christ were correct in their teachings that only through repentance, baptism in Jesus name and the infilling gift of the Holy Spirit can a person be saved and ready for Heaven. After all didn’t the criminal mentioned in Luke 23:42, say to Jesus Christ as they hung dying together on their perspective crosses, “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom”. Didn’t Jesus Christ say to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:43 NIV) It sounds to me that that criminal was saved. After all doesn’t the Bible say that the Lord Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life in the gospel according to John in verse 14 in the 6th line?

That criminal was saved by the Lord that day and we do not doubt that in any way.  What makes this account quite extraordinary is that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ happened during the time of the Law of Moses.  The church age of grace didn’t begin until the Day of Pentecost, which was 10 days after Christ’s ascension and 50 days after the crucifixion. That was the day that Peter preached the salvation message of the church age:  Repent and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all that are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself. (Acts 2:38-39 NIV)

Simply remember that to be saved under the Law of Moses the obeying believer had to have a high priest and a sacrifice unto God. Hanging next to that criminal was Jesus Christ, the criminal’s and our High Priest as mentioned in Hebrews 4:14, and also his and our sacrifice as mentioned in John 1:36 and again in Galatians 4:4-5.  That believing criminal fulfilled the requirements of the law and was saved that day at the very last of his life!

On the Day of Pentecost, we were given a new way of walking with God with the infilling of the Holy Spirit.  The power of God to overcome sin and our own fallen nature was given for the first time to humanity and with it we truly become new beings in Christ. The law could not change our fallen human nature but only exposes it. (Romans 7:11 & Galatians 3:24-27)    Perhaps that criminal was one of the last humans to die saved under the law!  Only the Lord knows and eternity may tell. But for now, the Lord says to us as He said to Nicodemus in John 3: You must be born again to see (which is translated perceive) the Kingdom of God which happens to include Heaven. Jesus later explained a little more when He said that you have to be born of the water and of the Spirit to enter into the Kingdom of God or in other words, enter into Heaven. Jesus Christ is very clear concerning this so great salvation.

Still others try to find salvation in the Epistles even though they were clearly written to those that were already born again into the church, not to those looking to be saved. Note that most of the Epistles begin with the statement from Paul saying “to the church at Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Thessalonica, etc”. The Apostle Paul was writing instructions of how to live God pleasing lives unto to those already in the church. Many times he was writing to churches that were being persecuted and many times tortured or killed. That is why he admonished them to confess the Lord and be saved. Note that in one of Peter’s writings to the church, he mentioned that baptism is necessary to be saved. (1 Peter 3:21)

Salvation is a gift from God which He paid for in full, but it does mention in the Scriptures that the Lord expects us to do our part as mentioned in James 2:17-19 and Ephesians 4:1. The Epistles teach us what type of people we should be to bring glory to the Lord for the awesome investment in us that He gave us.  This so great salvation, which includes the forgiveness of our sins which was paid for in full by Jesus Christ, by His precious blood shed on Golgotha’s hill and the infilling of His Holy nature, truly brings glory to the Lord when we are willing to live according to His precepts and moral laws while reflecting the love and goodness of God to the world around us.  Truly our life is our witness as to our faith.  If we truly love the Lord, we will obey His commandments and moral laws and live to glorify Him.   The example and account of the Old Testament shows us that our salvation will still cost us something just as it cost those of the old covenant the best of their flocks that would be sacrificed to the Lord to push ahead their sins.   Today the denying of ourselves, the picking up of our crosses and the following of the the Lord isn’t always the easiest thing to do and it does cost us something, but it is truly worth it.  After all, living according to God’s ways, while following His example and doing the right thing in a world that glorifies doing the wrong thing still takes a lot of effort and can definitely be called good works.

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