Tag

salvation

Mar 29 2018
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You Have to Take It

By | Eyesalve

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;” Acts 3:19

 

The word converted comes from the Greek word epistrepho which means to revert or turn. This word brings more clarity of what it means to repent. Salvation is a free gift, but you still have to do something to get it. I know saying something like that causes a lot of Christians to get nervous. However, you have to repent of your sins and turn away from them and turn to God if you want salvation. It is not different than if someone gives you a present. You have to reach out and take it from them. So if one is going to get saved, they have to humble themselves and turn to God to get it.

Dec 13 2017
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Eyesalve: Grace to Serve

By | Eyesalve

Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:” Hebrews 12:28

 

Some teach grace as just a means of salvation. No doubt that it is by grace we are saved. But it don’t stop there, in fact salvation is just the beginning of the work of grace in our life. We need grace to serve God, we need grace to do it with reverence and godly fear.

Dec 06 2017
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Eyesalve: Grace to Obtain

By | Uncategorized

“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:15-16

 

By grace we are saved. By grace we get help in the time of need. Grace is not for salvation alone, grace is needed to continue to obtain mercy, live for God and have victory over sin.

Oct 11 2017
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Eyesalve: Let Righteousness Spring Up

By | Eyesalve

“Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the LORD have created it.” Isaiah 45:8

 

Even if you have been a believer for several decades, it doesn’t hurt to be reminded again the heavenly order. First, let hearts be open to salvation, then let righteousness spring up. The order has never changed, first is salvation then comes righteousness. Man can never through righteousness obtain salvation.

Apr 07 2016
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Eyesalve: Verification

By | Eyesalve

“That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:” Acts 17:27

 

This is a strange phrase, “they might feel after Him.” The four words, “they might feel after” come from one Greek word which means to manipulate, verify by contact and search for. What Paul is preaching here is contrary to much of what the church offers as salvation. Paul doesn’t say, “repeat this prayer after me.” He is saying that salvation comes to those who truly seek Him out. Those who do not rest until they have a verification that they have touched God. Salvation indeed is a free gift, but that doesn’t mean that it is flippantly distributed like flyers from a politician. Salvation is for all who seek it out, or I should say, Seek Him out.

Mar 22 2016
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Eyesalve: They Do The Work

By | Eyesalve

“And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:” Jn. 20:22

 

Just as God breathed into Adam’s nostrils and he became the first living soul, Jesus breathed on His disciples and they became the first to be born of the Spirit. That very day was the first day that men were BORN AGAIN. From that day on the Spirit of God would dwell in men. 49 days later believers were filled with the Spirit which would usher the born again man out into a dark world and give him the power and boldness to speak against that darkness. Some men want to be filled with the Spirit, but have never been born again; that won’t work. Some believers want salvation, but don’t want to be filled; they don’t work. And last, some believers are filled with the Spirit; they do the work.

Mar 10 2016
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You Must Be Born Again

By | Articles

 

The most deceived people on the face of the earth

are those who think they are saved, but are not.

 

There is a huge difference between people who believe they are born

again because someone told them they were and those who know

they are born again because they experienced the new birth.

 

A person who is lost in their sin and knows it, has a much higher percentage of getting saved than the person who thinks they are saved, but has never been born again. A person who gets comfortable in their religion or their status in the church would have no reason to call on the Lord to save them. They think that everything is just fine. It is the person who is drowning who calls for the lifeguard. Even more difficult is for a minister who is not born again to get saved. The ministers that have committed their life to serve the Lord in the ministry would be the least likely to ever ask themselves if they have ever really been born again. Besides that, who would ever confront a minister about his need for salvation? Do not be mistaken there are many unsaved ministers. I trust that yours is born again.

It seems to me that so many in the church, especially when it comes to soul winning, have forgotten what Jesus said.

 

“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again” (John 3:3-7).

 

Nothing has changed since the days Jesus spoke these words to Nicodemus. Though man has tried to ignore, rephrase or redefine the whole concept (more than a concept) of being born again, it still stands true today; you must be born again to enter the kingdom of God. By the way, it is not a future kingdom, it is a kingdom you enter the instant you are born again. Jesus said, “..the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21).

I have encountered many people who claim to be a Christian. Some of them are and some aren’t. Mind you, I am not the final judge of that as you know, neither are you. Some believers fear the thought of even trying to discern if someone is truly saved. Let me put you at ease, God will not be checking with me or you about another person’s salvation. However, the Bible teaches us that we can know a tree by its fruit. So when I encounter a person who claims to be a Christian, but there is much in their life that would testify contrary to that, (if I get a chance to,) I will ask them when they were born again. Some of their answers are, “I was a Christian my whole life,” or, “I became a Christian when I was baptized.” Millions of people have been told they are a Christian because they repeated the sinner’s prayer. Some churches teach that you are born again when you get confirmed. I was raised in the Roman Catholic church and I never even heard about being born again until I was in my twenties and it wasn’t the Catholic church that told me about it either. Nonetheless, at twenty seven years of age, married with three children, I was born again. I was made a brand new creature in an instant. It was something that happened on the inside of me. I can’t explain it, in fact no one can explain it, for it is something you just know when it happens to you. Jesus described it this way:

 

“The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).

 

What Jesus is teaching is that you can’t see the wind, but you can hear and feel the effects of it. When someone is born again, the Holy Wind who you cannot see, enters that person and causes them to be born of the Spirit.

Think how radical it is for a baby when it is born. It leaves the warm sheltered confines of a mother’s womb and is brought out into a whole different environment than what it was used to for the last nine months. The baby does not have the capacity to understand what happened to it, but it does know that something happened. So too, with a person who is born again, they know something has happened to them even though they do not have the words or understanding to explain it. It doesn’t take long for the real believer to realize what happened to them, they became a born again believer.

I fear for many that their salvation rests in having correct theological understanding of salvation. They believe all the doctrines that they are supposed to believe such as, the word of God is infallible, all men have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and Jesus is the only way to the Father. In fact, they can have those famous salvation scriptures memorized such as:

 

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

 

and still not be born again. I fear many find the confidence of their salvation in their church. They believe they are saved because they attend church regularly, listen to the sermon, pay their tithes and try to live a moral life. Hell is filled with Bible reading church attenders. Going to church makes you no more a Christian than walking into the courthouse makes you a judge.

Then there are those who believe they are saved because mom and dad are, or grandma and grandpa are. Some children grow up convinced they are saved because their dad is the pastor. But no one, I repeat, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they personally are born again.

Salvation is a miracle. Every real Christian starts out as a miracle. Salvation is radical, it offends every part of your carnal nature, but is sweet to your soul. Salvation isn’t just a changing of your mind, it is powerful transformation. It takes those who have used their body to fulfill all kinds of sinful lusts and turns them into a temple for God to live in. Hallelujah!

Are you a living miracle? Are you truly born again? If not, humble yourself before Almighty God, repent of your sins, surrender your life to the Lord Jesus Christ and trust Him with your life.

Jan 27 2016
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Eyesalve: Through Revelation

By | Eyesalve

“At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. 26Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. 27All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.” Mt. 11:25-27

 

Our generation has such a hard time understanding that man does not get saved by having an intellectual understanding of the gospel. To convince someone of the gospel in their mind is not salvation. Salvation comes by revelation to those who humble themselves as a babe.

Jan 18 2016
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Eyesalve: Revealed to Babes

By | Eyesalve

“At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. 26Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. 27All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.” Mt. 11:25-27

 

Our generation has such a hard time understanding that man does not get saved by having an intellectual understanding of the gospel. To convince someone of the gospel in their mind is not salvation. Salvation comes by revelation to those who humble themselves as a babe.

Sep 30 2015
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Eyesalve: Worketh Righteousness

By | Eyesalve

“Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.” Acts 10:34-35

Quite a bit of the Christian church today has a hyper view of grace. They deny that righteous living has any part of our salvation. No doubt they would call the apostle Peter a false teacher because he said that those who “worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him.” Works don’t save, but saved people do works out their salvation with fear and trembling.