WHAT IS GOD'S SALVATION ALL ABOUT?
Salvation was required (and was designed by God in eternity past) because Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command, and sinned, causing God’s wrath to be upon mankind. Since that day every person who has been born is born with a sinful depraved nature. God’s plan was to place His wrath and all the sins of the whole world on Jesus, and for Jesus to carry them all away.
How does a person receive God’s Salvation ? A person must recognise he is a sinner and heading for eternal punishment in hell. One of the many ministries of the Holy Spirit is that through the preaching and sharing of the Gospel is to cause a person to become convicted of their sinful life, and to give the seeker the desire and power to respond and receive God’s forgiveness.
Gospel preaching MUST include the need for REPENTANCE, that is a total change of mind, and attitude, and affection, and direction. Peter’s first sermon on the day of Pentecost emphasise this essential truth, and the seeker’s response is to confess and obey, and be baptized in water and the Holy Spirit.
Is this the content of modern day Evangelistic preaching ???? sadly no, people are asked to “try Jesus” and to pray a prayer. Again on Sunday night on Christian television I heard a preacher say, “now you have prayed that prayer you are a Christian !!!!!! really. I thought Paul said, we must believe in our heart as well as confess with our mouth to be saved. I have asked thousands of students the question “How many times did you pray the sinner’s prayer” the general response has been 3-4 times before assurance of sins forgiven came. When mouth and heart came together.
Of course, there are those who prayed once and the burden of sin rolled away, and they were dramatically born again, Oh that we would se more conversions like that. When a person s truly born again their desires are changed and their lifestyle changes, so many things simply begin to drop of and out of their lives, as they continue to be partakers of the divine nature.
Salvation is not just the initial act of repenting, but God’s plan is that we become more like Jesus, and are prepared to live with God for eternity.
Here is some aspects of that continuing growing walk with God.
God has imputed his righteousness in us, now we must learn practice and walk in it.
We must continually decide NOT to let the world pollute us.
We must learn to die daily to our own desires, and live in surrender and unity with the Lord.
We must choose to daily walk in newness of life.
We must be prepared to experience persecutions.
We must show forth the God life by good works.
We must develop the fruit of the Spirit.
We must learn to walk in the light of God’s Word and our conscience.
Our lifestyle and conduct must reflect JESUS.
Because of our glorious inheritance we learn to withstand temptation.
Each of these important truths are the basis of a complete blog in itself.
I have not listed any Scripture verses with this blog today, my readers should the Scriptures well enough, but if you want verses I will give them to you.
I ask myself this morning, am I manifesting these things in my life? Do we hear much preaching and teaching about these things? Do we see it manifest in the lives of fellow believers?
The whole basis of this teaching today could be open to criticism, that John Ollis is an idealist, good stuff in theory, but not in practice.
This blog is not to condemn but to encourage, and challenge believers to step up, to the NORMAL CHRISTIAN LIFE (as the Bible teaches) and to recognise the false basis of much Gospel preaching and practice today.
I trust this blog causes you to respond and comment thank you
