I am not a pastor nor do I have a formal education in Theology. I have been a Christian for many years and am a seeker of the truth. These are just my personal thoughts as I read scripture. I would love to share with others within a Christian viewpoint. If you are looking for someone to argue with I am not the right person. There are others much better educated who engage in that type of discussion. If you would like to share thoughts I am very open to that.
In this blog I decided to explore the salvation question. Some people believe that once you are saved you never have to grow or do anything further. While I know we can never earn our salvation, it is a gift from God through Jesus' sacrifice; I believe that we must respond to it in ways that show we have changed. That is the evidence of the Holy Spirit working within us. Certainly there was a reason why John had to go before Christ preparing the people to Repent and change their lives. I think these scriptures support my viewpoint.
Jesus teaches on salvation
Matthew 7
15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will know them by their fruits. 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 This seems to indicate some action is required. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ Even their actions were not enough because of sin in their lives. Their conversion does not appear to be authentic because He says He NEVER knew them. How they did the miraculous works I don't know. Perhaps they were in a group with some true Christians. To bear fruit means to reproduce. So if we are to bear fruit we are to create more Christians like ourselves.
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.” The ones who built on the sand are those who fall away when troubles come. See below:
Matthew 13
3 And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil. 6 But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. 8 And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.”
18 “ Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. 20 The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 23 And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.” So when he talks about the rocky soil it is a warning that we can slip away and lose our salvation if we allow the trials that we go through for our faith to overwhelm us. This happens when we are not firmly rooted in the Word and not taking daily time with God. We are meant to reproduce or bear fruit (create new Christians). The good soil produced a hundred or sixty or thirty.
Mark 11
12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it. ………………..
20 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!” The fig tree in scripture often symbolizes Israel. Could he have been showing that the Jews were not bearing fruit therefore they were cut off. I would also like to dig deeper on the part about it not being the season for fruit perhaps being a symbol of the season we have been granted as gentiles until the Jews are reinstated when Jesus returns. Make no mistake I am not suggesting that Christians have replaced the Jews! In fact I adamantly disagree with that. What I am suggesting is that the Gentiles have been granted a window of time to be grafted in as part of God's family. This scripture could also tie back to Matthew 7:19 above explaining the unfruitful Christians. While the tree was flourishing, it had lots of green leaves, but still it produced no fruit. I don't personally believe that Jesus had a temper tantrum because there was no fruit. I think this was another teaching that He left for them to discover.
Matthew 10
34 “ Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36 and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household.
37 “ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. We must always be aware that no one not even our closest loved ones must come between us and God. Paul knew this and tried to warn them about that issue in marriage, see below:
1 Cor 7
32 But I want you to be free from concern. One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; 33 but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, 34 and his interests are divided. The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband. 35 This I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord. He is clearly saying this is not a commandment merely a suggestion that it is very difficult to be married and serve God without distractions. There are other scriptures where he says it is better to marry than to burn. If all the Christians stopped marrying and having families there would be a decrease in the number of Christians eventually which is clearly not God’s will.
2 Tim 4
2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. This is common today in the prosperity teaching we get in some churches. Teaching God is like a Santa to give us whatever we want and to give so God will give to you. This was never the way it was meant to be. We do what is right for love of God not for gain. God knows the heart and that is what is judged. Our actions should flow out of our relationship with God in a sincere desire to please Him because He loves us and we love Him. The attitude is everything. God looks at the heart.
2 Tim 3
But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. 6 For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith. 9 But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes’s and Jambres’s folly was also. He is talking about false teachers in the last days. This is clearly happening today.
Luke 9
23 And He was saying to them all, “ If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. 25 For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 But I say to you truthfully, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” Christians seem to misunderstand what the true Christian walk is about. To deny yourself and take up your cross means you don’t get to do whatever you want. Your life is over in the traditional sense and you move into something which is actually better. But first you must lay your life down. That means forfeiting your pleasures and accepting whatever God asks of you. We do not see God’s miracles and experience His peace and joy because we are still hanging on to our earthly pleasures.
Matthew 6
19 “ Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “ The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! I was so confused by this part about your eye in the middle of reading about money and faith so I did some research. Apparently this was some sort of Jewish saying. A clear eye indicated generosity and a bad or evil eye was stinginess. Now the whole paragraph flows together. He is speaking about money from verse 19 through 24.
24 “ No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
