A friend, a Christian Brother, whom I met when I was first saved,
prayed for me once and had a word from the Lord
It was from scripture: The Lord’s hand is on you for good and not for evil.
When I first met him, he flowed in the Holy Spirit
Over the years, we remained friends
He became an associate pastor at a church
And I went to another church
He said a few things that baffled me from time to time
Once I mentioned we are near the End Times and he responded by saying, “They’ve been saying that for thousands of years.”
But and if that servant say in his heart,
My lord delayeth his coming;
and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens,
and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;
The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him,
and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder,
and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
And that servant, which knew his lord’s will,
and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will,
shall be beaten with many stripes. Luke 12:45-47
The attitude was a hardened attitude.
He had much anger and unforgiveness.
He blew up quite easily and always wanted to be the center of attention.
The years went on.
His doctrine became very important to Him
The problem with that is, with Jesus, there is no set doctrine.
The Holy Spirit leads us and guides us into all truth.
There are no solidified rules man can make to assure salvation.
Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law.
Humility before Him, seeking His face and following hard after Him.
His Holy Spirit is our teacher and our guide.
To get caught up in the Law is pharisaical.
One night at dinner he told me he was a Calvinist,
that he believed in the once saved, always saved doctrine.
He believes that God created good people, the chosen, and bad people.
I know that is wrong because
all persons are created in the image of God and there is no evil in God.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Genesis 1:27
People’s hearts lead them astray.
If their hearts are not able to bow before the Lord,
and they want to be like God,
God can do nothing with those people
and He will use them for another purpose.
The Lord hath made all things for himself:
yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. Proverbs 16:4
I’ve read this every which way, read it in Hebrew, read commentaries on it, asked the Lord to teach me about it.
This is what I think it means:
We are created in God’s image.
And God said, Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Genesis 1:26-27
There is no evil in God
Humans choose evil or are allowed to choose evil.
So, because of that, there is an evil day
prepared for those who have chosen wickedness.
The word is clear about that:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men,
who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them;
for God hath shewed it unto them.
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even his eternal power and Godhead;
so that they are without excuse:
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God,
neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations,
and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. Romans 1:18-22
The word is used to purify,
yet there is no place that says we can figure it all out.
We cannot excuse ourselves
and though we have confessed Jesus as our Lord
or may have done other noble things,
there is no ticket to get you into heaven.
We all must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.
That means, we, like any of the disciples, like the rich man,
like Zaccheus, like the woman at the well, like the thief hanging on the cross, must come to a knowledge and reconciliation with God Himself.
There is no one right of passage.
There are many scriptures that give us promises. Which ones are for you?
That is between you and God.
We all must get before Him, being naked and open unto Him
with whom we have to do.
Jacob wrestled with God until he received a blessing.
That is a good example of what I am talking about.
It’s not about anyone else telling you you are saved,
it is about you yourself getting before the Throne of God
and making sure you have given your life to Him
and that you confess him as Lord,
hand over your life to Him to please Him.
What does that exactly mean?
How do you use your talents?
How do you love others?
Do you keep hate and bitterness and unforgivenss out of your heart?
I cannot answer that.
Only God Himself can give you peace about this.
We will all stand before the Judgment seat of God.
Nobody will be there with you.
You will answer to Him for every deed, every word.
It’s my thought that I’d rather keep my life in front of Jesus now
and keep checking in with Him
so I can do my best to fulfill my mission, my purpose.
Knowing Christ personally and hearing from Him about your life
and what He wants you to do is where it’s at.
Valuing your relationship with God is your responsibility.
If you draw near to Him, He will draw near to you.
To believe in once saved, always saved gives us a false sense of security.
It is not a one-time decision.
it is a daily decision, sometimes a moment by moment decision.
To think we can do whatever we want,
especially with regard to our interpretation of the law
and that when we are judged, as long as we hold true to the law,
we will be fine, no problem because we followed the rules.
Not so.
If you hate, you are not getting into heaven.
If you have not forgiven, Jesus is very clear, if you forgive not men,
neither will your father forgive you.
There is no getting around that.
Can we cleanse our hearts on our own? Absolutely not!
His blood cleanses all sin and if we confess our sin,
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Be honest before Him and trust that He will help you to honor Him
and learn of Him so you will be pure before Him.
It is your relationship with God,
so make sure you know what He is asking of you for your life.