Tag: salvation

Calvinist vs Arminianism and Why It Matters

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We associate the words “conditional” and “unconditional” with the opposing views of salvation that are held by the Calvinists and the Armenians.

Calvinists preach a doctrine called “unconditional election.”
The idea of it is that, if you are elected by God for salvation, you will go to heaven regardless of what you do or do not do concerning Christ.

Armenians preach a doctrine called “conditional election.”
Their claim is that a person’s salvation is based entirely upon what they choose to do with Christ. You are saved of your own free will, and conversely, once saved, you can choose, by will or by actions, to “unsave” yourself.

Like almost everything in the Bible, the truth isn’t found in one extreme or another but somewhere in the middle.

  • Anyone can be saved
  • But only those who, by their free will call on Christ are saved

 

1 Corinthians 15:1-2 Vain Faith

1 Corinthians 15:1-2 (KJV)
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

There are always those who read into the Bible their own ideas, so there are those who read into here that a person can lose salvation once received. This is impossible since Jesus said, “no man is able to pluck them out of my hand.”[1]

So what does this mean?
It is possible that a person believes the historical facts about Jesus but doesn’t possess saving faith in Jesus.
I was of that sort for many of my younger years. I would never have thought to question the historical narrative of the life death and resurrection of Christ. I am confident that I would have argued in support of them. But I was not a Christian and when pressed about it, I knew it.

Some have a profession of faith but it is false.
There is, as far as I can see, only one way for an outsider to know if a person’s profession of faith is false or real, time. Sooner or later the false professor will return to the old wallow. The flesh will not be able to keep up a walk with God forever. There are Christians who backslide but the difference is that God will not allow them to continue in that state. They will get under conviction, be chastened by the Lord and either repent or be taken early to heaven. The false professor can happily roll around in his old wallow the rest of his life.

There is no such thing as losing eternal life or it was never eternal. But there is such a thing as a false professor. For that reason Apostle Paul includes this exception; they were saved, if they keep the gospel. Otherwise they are merely false professors or believers in the facts and not in saving faith.

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

 

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

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1 Corinthians 15:1-2 Vain Faith

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[1] John 10:27-29 (KJV)
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.

John 14:22 (KJV) Salvation is a Faith Issue

John 14:22 (KJV)
Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?

Thaddeus also known as the writer of Jude, asks the question, “How is it that Jesus will manifest Himself to believers and not the rest of the world?” The answer follows:

Through the Word
Those who love the Lord keep His Word and find Christ in it.

Through the Comforter
The Holy Spirit living in us is real. We sense His presence, receive direction from Him and are given power through Him.

Through peace
Paul will call it “peace that passeth all understanding“[1]. We can’t explain it. A person must possess it or be left to misunderstand it.

A question we might ask today is, “Why would He manifest Himself to us and not to the world?” I believe the answer to that question is that He would have all men to be saved, not just aware of His being. Salvation is a faith issue. If He were manifest to them they would have no faith because, according to Romans 8:24, For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

[1] Philippians 4:7

 

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

 

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others

John 14:22 (KJV) Salvation is a Faith Issue

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2 Kings 25:12 (KJV) The Last King in Judah

2 Kings 25:12 (KJV)
But the captain of the guard left of the poor of the land to be vinedressers and husbandmen.

Here then is the record of the last King in Judah.  After this will be an appointed governor. Later, when we get to the time of Christ, we will find the half Jew Herod on the throne, put there by Rome. Zedekiah is captured, along with every other person of influence. Only the poor of the land are left.

I am reminded that Jesus said, “the meek shall inherit the earth.” It will not be the movers and shakers that receive the kingdom of Christ. The kings and the rich and all those who trust in and follow them will be destroyed at the battle of Armageddon. It will be the poor, the meek; those who refuse to accept the mark of the beast (and who suffer because of it) that remain to enter into Christ’s reign.

It is similar today. Those who get saved, those who enter into Christ’s promise are those who are humble enough to release the rule of their own lives.

  • Rather than being world influencers they are happy to come under the influence of Christ.
  • Rather than making a name for themselves they are content to lift up the name of Christ.
  • Rather than forging a way in the wilderness they find pleasure walking in the path Christ forged. 

To my reader:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

 

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others

2 Kings 25:12 (KJV) The Last King in Judah

Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at Bible Baptist Church Fundraiser. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free. Email me for a free one month VIP membership.

John 1:13 (KJV) Salvation is of God

John 1:13 (KJV)
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

The Bible insists that the salvation of a soul is completely performed by God:

Not by blood
At first glance this looks like physical birth but I think it convey much more. The word blood is plural and likely has reference to a number of Jewish traditions:

  • The blood of circumcision a cultural distinction
  • The blood a sacrifice a religious ritual
  • The blood of Abraham a familial ancestry

None of these actually affect the new birth.

Not by the will of the flesh
Salvation is not a choice we make. It does not happen because we decide to follow Jesus.

Not by the will of man
No one can make a man be saved. As much as I might desire salvation for my children, grandchildren or, for that matter, any other person, salvation is not the result of any man’s efforts hard work charisma or position.

Men are born again by the will of God. He planned it. He paid for it. He gave us His Word. He calls men into ministry. He teaches us all to be witnesses. He gave us the Holy Spirit who brings conviction and regeneration.

 

To my reader:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

 

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others

John 1:13 (KJV) Salvation is of God

Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at Bible Baptist Church Fundraiser. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free. Email me for a free one month VIP membership.

1 Samuel 28:19 (KJV) Religious But Lost

1 Samuel 28:19 (KJV)
Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with thee into the hand of the Philistines: and to morrow shalt thou and thy sons be with me: the LORD also shall deliver the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.

Whether this “familiar spirit ” was Samuel or a demon is a matter of question. Whichever it is changes the understanding of the passage but not the immediate result; Saul was going to die in this battle, as would his sons who were there in the battle. Saul’s disobedience had brought ruin to those who followed him.

If this was the spirit of Samuel then the message was that he would die and be not in heaven but hell.
At this time hell and Abraham’s bosom were next to one another and though a great gulf was fixed between them, communications from one to the other was possible. Some believe Saul to have been saved. It is true that judgment in this life is not synonymous with eternal hell in the next.

If the familiar spirit was a devil there were portions of his response to Saul that was true but great deception was his purpose.
Not all of Saul’s sons were killed because not all of them were at the battle. He would not die the next day but a few days hence. Saul is not with this spirit at death as the devils are not bound in hell (at least not those who could have communicated with Saul).

I personally see Saul as one who had been enlightened by the Spirit and drawn to the Savior but who had never come to trust Christ alone. He was religious but lost.

 

To my reader:
My greatest concern for the souls of men is that they, like Saul, are religious but lost. Heaven or hell is not based upon what you do, if or where you worship or how good you have been in your life. The Bible makes it very clear that heaven is attained only through personal saving faith in Jesus Christ.  I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

 

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

1 Samuel 28:19 (KJV) Religious But Lost

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Matthew 4:14-16 (KJV) Don’t Stay in the Dark

Matthew 4:14-16 (KJV)
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;
The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

Darkness is such an oppressive and depressing thing.

  • There is so little that can be done in the darkness
  • Evil and wicked people lurk in the darkness

Thus the people just sat in the darkness.

Our text restates itself and labels it, “the region and shadow of death“. The darkness to which it refers is, of course, spiritual.

This darkness, with the gloomy prospect of death is expelled by great light. The light is more than a flicker of promise; this is the fulfillment of every promise of the Old Testament. The light is something other than the natural light they were used to. This was supernatural, spiritual light. This was light greater than to light Zabulon alone; this was the light of the world.

What a privilege to know and walk in great light.

 

To my reader:
I wonder, have you met the Light that is Jesus Christ? Click here to send me an e-mail asking for details on how to be saved and be sure of it.

 

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2007.

Matthew 4:14-16 (KJV) Don’t Stay in the Dark

Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at Bible Baptist Church Fundraiser. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free. Email me for a free one month VIP membership.

1 Samuel 15:2 (KJV) Remember God Remembers

1 Samuel 15:2 (KJV)
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.

God remembered what the Amalekites said to Israel four hurdle years previous. Sometimes we forget that God doesn’t forget. We are aware of the Word of God and what it teaches but we think, since so many people have disobeyed the Bible for so long and have never suffered a consequence then maybe the teachings of the Bible are flawed.

I just want to remind you that four hundred years is nearly twice as long as our nation’s existence. If we were to pay the consequences of Bible disobedience today, we would be paying for the sins of the first Pilgrims and settlers on this continent! Perhaps we are!

The fact that people seem to get away with sin does not mean they have gotten Away with sin.

There is another bunch in this chapter whom God remembers. At nearly the same period in history the amenities had showed kindness to Israel and they are offered and escape from judgment.  Even so we, sinful as we are, are offered a way of escape through Jesus Christ.

God remembers our sin; unless He chooses (because of Christ) to forget our sin.

 

 

To my reader:
Do me a favor leave a comment below and tell me whether you are in the group the God remembers for judgment or mercy.  I would love to hear from you.

 

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2007.

1 Samuel 15:2 (KJV) Remember God Remembers

Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at Bible Baptist Church Fundraiser. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free. Email me for a free one month VIP membership.

 

 

Joshua 9:4 No Deals Cut With God

Joshua 9:4 (KJV)

They did work wilily, and went and made as if they had been ambassadors, and took old sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles, old, and rent, and bound up;

 

Rahab the harlot establishes that, had any of the Canaanites repented, they could have been spared. Unfortunately, that is not what most of them did.

  • Some walled themselves away inside their fortresses (but God tore them down)
  • Some banded together as one against Israel
  • Some feared God’s judgment but chose to fight instead of repent

 

 

Gibeon chose to work wilily, to use trickery and deceit. Their plot appeared to work on the surface. They did get a treaty of peace, but in doing so they incurred the wrath of the world around them and, what is worse, no real relationship with the people of God.

 

Churches today are filled with Gibeonite type people. These are the ones attempting to cut a deal with God. They pretend to be something they are not hoping that, if they can convince the Christians, they can convince God to spare them. Their strategy will not work. All they really succeed in doing is

  • To alienate themselves from the world
  • To frustrate their relationship with Christians
  • To bind themselves as prisoners from saving faith and
  • To ultimately end up eternal lost in hell

All of this (except the wrath of the world) could have been avoided if only they had sincerely repented and asked for salvation.

 

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2007.

Joshua 9:4 Repentance

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The Author of Eternal Salvation

Hebrews 5:9 KJV

And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

 

Christ was never made in the sense of creation.

  • He has always been
  • He became flesh
  • He increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man but
  • He was not created

However, as a man, Jesus perfected the role of a man. He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. He suffered in His flesh and, in that suffering, offered prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears.

 

And it was in this perfection He became the author of our salvation.

 

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2007.

Hebrews 5:9 Jesus Christ is the author of eternal salvation

Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at http://www.dubli.com/T0US1C6RE?mID=6311. This program is free to you. Receive a free one month membership upgrade after signing up by pasting the promo code PP153-ZYUPWKSNM in your redeem voucher area.