Salvation Requirements

 

    Salvation is a free gift from God through Jesus.  However, if you accept this gift it makes you a part of His holy family.  Being a part of His family has some responsibilities.  You accept salvation through faith, but then you repent in your heart all your sins known and unknown.  Next you live it out and proclaim it without embarrassment or hesitation.  

    While you are alive it is like you are running a marathon.  You have to practice.  You have to work the faith muscle.  You learn endurance by using your spiritual gifts and leaning into God in the hard times.  It is a relationship that should never go stagnant.  You also have to learn humility to repent when you sin.  Repentance is displayed in obedience.  If you truly love God, then you will obey him.

    To repent is to change your mind.  You change how you look and think about sin.  You repent what you know, but as you go on in life you realize that you still sin.  You have to repent as sin becomes aware to you.  It is like taking a spiritual shower.  You are staying spiritually hygienic.  You also want to repent from all your unknown sin, so you ask God to reveal them to you.

    You have to have a repentant heart to follow Jesus.  It ensures you have a heart seeking to be like him.  Your heart and attitude leads to your actions, so it helps you stay righteous.  If your heart is true then sin brings you real sorrow.  The truth becomes clear.  You accept God's forgiveness and change, but you also accept consequences in your life.  People do not forgive as quickly as God because they can't read your heart.  They only see the actions.  

2 Chronicles 7:12-15, Psalm 51, Jonah 3, Mark 1:14-15, Romans 4:13-15, Hebrews 11:1-19, & James 2:19-20

Gift of Salvation Part 2

 

    Salvation is a free gift from God given to you and everyone else who accepts through Jesus.  It makes you a Christian, a part of God's family.  You are adopted in to be loved and cared for eternity.  No one can take it away from you once you accept.  

    Salvation has nothing to do with how good you were before.  It is offered to everyone.  After salvation you become better out of love not duty.  Nothing you ever do in life is not influenced by the world in some way.  That makes your best deeds not good enough.  Don't wait to accept salvation until you are good enough or you will wait too long.  Accept it and then work with God on becoming who you were made to be.

    Salvation is a gift of love.  Jesus came to the world to show what love should look like.  He was gracious, kind, and firm to the truth.  He made the ultimate sacrifice to be the last sacrifice.  God sent him and he obeyed.  When he left, he left his people with the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit empowers Christian's new nature to be like Jesus.

    Everyone is an enemy of God until the moment of salvation.  It is proof of His love.  Why would He even bother pursuing you or anyone else?  Jesus took the the death that you deserved onto himself, so you have the opportunity not to spend eternity separated from God in regret.  

    You can have salvation only one way: faith.  You believe that Jesus was who he said he was, that he died, and that he resurrected himself to live among people for 40 more days before ascending to Heaven still living to be with God until the time of his return.  It is that simple.  You just have to believe, pronounce it, and turn from your sins as the Holy Spirit convicts you of them.

    Baptism is the first act of faith that God request of you.  Next you need to find a church that teaches the complete Bible not just the feel good parts or change it to suite society.  It doesn't have to be a particular formula or traditional church.  The point is to be with fellow believers that will help you grow and encourages you to disciple.  Christians were never meant to find salvation and then sit on the sideline allowing the world to figure it out for themselves.  You are called to live out Jesus' love like he did.

Romans 5:6-11, Ephesians 2:8-10, Colossians 1:21-23, & Titus 1:1-7, 3:1-11

Biblical Sexual Ethics

 

    From the beginning God had a design for marriage and sex.  His design is one man and one woman in marriage become united as one through sex.  It is a marriage covenant not to be broken.  The problem is that we live in a broken world.  

    Divorce is just as high in the church as it is in the world.  Divorce was never part of the design, but God allows it because people have hard hearts that lead to breaking the marriage covenant.  God allows divorce when you have been abandoned or unfaithful.  

    There are many debates on if abuse should be a part of that.  God never wanted His people to be hurt especially by their spouse.  Some people believe it is part of sticking with their spouse through sickness and in health.  It is a call only an abused person can make for themselves with help of the Holy Spirit, but it can fall under abandonment since the spouse does abandon you emotionally.  Only someone with a hard heart would abuse.  They make a home unsafe. 

    Sex outside of marriage was never part of God's design.  Marriage is to represent the completion of love God has for His people.  .  Premarital sex can lead to multiple partners making it where you are cheating on your future spouse before you ever meet them.  It distorts God's design making it a sin that has many different consequences: children out of wedlock, STD, and spiritual and or emotional disconnect from God.  God forgives all sins, so He can remove the condemnation, shame, and guilt.  However, you will only turn to Him when you realize the sin for yourself.

    God is clear in the Bible that homosexuality and transgenderism goes against His design.  Same sex relations are strictly prohibited and in the days of the Bible carried severe consequences.  Today it has been declared a mental illness by some.  People that struggle with this should be met with Godly love and prayer.  They do not need your condemnation because God will deal with it His way.  Christians should encourage them not to give it identity.  Naming it gives it power.  Instead focus on the real struggle with sin and be supportive as they work through it with God.  You may not understand the struggle.  That is okay.  You can still love them the way Jesus loves them and direct them to Him.

    Pornography is adultery.  It is so common today that people don't even view it as a sin, but Jesus made it clear that it is.  He said it is better to remove your eyes than to look on someone with lust.  Almost half the families in the United States have a problem with porn in their home.  It is a struggle that many church leaders and pastors struggle with at some point or another.  It is just as common in women as it is in men now.  

    Sexual sin causes destruction for the family.  America has more broken and multi-dimensional homes than traditional or nuclear homes.  The family has almost lost all value in the nation because talking about sex is uncomfortable.  Facing sexual sin is hard because it affects every single person on some level or another.  Until you can be honest with yourself and your own sin, you can't help anyone else with theirs.  It is part of the sinful nature that comes naturally.  It is possibly the hardest part to put to death.  Teach yourself to see temptation for what it is and and how to avoid or walk away from it.

Genesis 2:4-25, Psalm 101:1-5, Matthew 1:18-25, 19:1-12, Romans 1:24-32, 6:1-14, 1 Corinthians 6:9-20, 10:12-13, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8, 1 Timothy 1:8-11, & Jude 5-11

Salvation Freedom

 

    Before you accept the gift of salvation you are an enemy of God.  That means you sentenced to accept His full wrath one day.  Salvation is more than escaping pain and doom.  It is a life of faith and building a relationship with your creator.  The reality is you are an enemy or child of God.  There is no in between or gray areas.  

    Salvation is believing everything about Jesus and accepting the cross to bare your sins.  Your life become a life of sacrifice because you sacrifice who you were to follow Jesus for the rest of your life.  The reward is eternity with Him.  Once you put your sins on the cross they are dead to you and removed from existence with God.  You are free because you are no longer bound to sin.  It no longer controls every aspect of who you are.  You are transformed into a righteous person under God's protection.

    Salvation changes you from the soul.  It helps you see sin for sin, so you are motivated to remove it from the roots and destroy it so it doesn't destroy you or your testimony.  Sin condemn while salvation gives you are fresh start to do things differently.  It changes your life perspective, how you think, and how you love.  Salvation has to be real for that kind of transformation.  You transform because you experience true freedom and the peace that comes with it.

    Salvation freedom does not work without God.  He gives you your identity.  You can't have that identity without Him as a part of it.  He is your creator, teacher, inspiration, and so much more.  Your identity is defined by your relationship with Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit to face everything with confidence.

    There is nothing wrong with being dependent on God.  He never lies, manipulates, or lets you down.  He won't do life your way, but if you let Him He will show you why His way is better.  You can rest because you know He is in control.  You can admit your weaknesses because He is strong.  You can love because He loved you first.  

    Jesus completed the law showing us how to live it in love.  You are no longer tied to the law that was created to show you how much you need God.  You now obey out of love and desire to do good by God and other people.  You are not bound to the law as works, but observe the law to experience peace.  You have an enlightenment that nonbelievers can't possess because the Holy Spirit reveals the truth to you on a personal level.

    Jesus gave you spiritual freedom to see past petty human issues.  He destroyed the power of hate that causes division.  Follow Jesus and you no longer have to struggle with issues involving race, economics, society, culture, or government. Jesus brings unity.  When he returns he will come to divide, but in a different way.  He will gather his people separating them from the people of the world.  They will never again experience hate, cruelty, bigotry, racism, or any other forms of bondage created by Satan and man.

    God pursues everyone.  He doesn't care about the color of your skin, language you speak, or nation you were born in.  He made you that way out of love.  Prejudices show that people are bond to sin.  Christians need to let go of any form of bondage to follow Jesus freely.  It doesn't happen over night, but has to happen or you will never experience the freedom that God is trying to give you in life.

John 15:9-17, Romans 6:1-11, 8:1-4, Ephesian 2

Power Over Sin

 

    Sin is serious like terminal cancer.  It eats away at you stealing your life.  However, God's love is more powerful than sin.  He loved you first.  He pursued you in your sin.  When you accept His love He ask you to sin no more.  That starts a spiritual battle in your heart from your human nature and your Christlike nature.  God's love shows you the way.  He always gives you are out from sinning.  The question is will you follow our chose to stay in sin?

    You can read God's Word.  You can conceptionally understand it.  However, until you allow it into your heart it does not how power in you.  You have to accept God's love and follow Jesus for knowledge to become wisdom.  Following Jesus is the ultimate act of love because Jesus came to this world out of love for you.

    God's character is love, but His love is not giving you everything you want.  It is giving you free will to do what is good and right.  You have the choice to follow Jesus or your own path.  If you are His adopted child and you stray, then He will discipline you to show you the right way.  That is love.  Love does not allow you to destroy yourself.  It show you how to be safe, productive, and good.

    Salvation through Jesus is the only way to be rescued from your sins.  It is the only way to become an adopted child of God.  When you have salvation you have the freedom to live righteously.  It is the beginning of your faith journey that will take you places you could never have gone without Jesus.  You learn how to love purely, sacrificially, and without expecting anything in return.

    God's love hold the deepest depth.  You are a slave to death doomed to die eternally if you don't accept that love.  Salvation is beginning of understanding the depth of God's love.  It starts healing you, enables you to forgive, and enhances your ability to love.  You start loving people where they are in life, but want more for them like Jesus did for you.  

    Sin deserves to die.  The fact that Jesus took all his power and put it into a human body to give people a way out is unbelievable, but true.  His power is more powerful than sin and everything that comes with it.  He took what you deserved, so you could have freedom from the eternal consequences.  He loves you enough to wait patiently for you without forcing or intimidating you into a decision.  He loves you enough to never take your free will away from you.  His powerful love is compassionate, kind, holds grace, merciful, slow to anger, faithful, strong, glorious, and true.

Numbers 21:4-9, Psalm 86:14-17, Isaiah 62:1-5, John 3:1-21, 7:50-53, 15:9-17, Romans 5:6-11, 2 Peter 3:8-10, & 1 John 4:7-8

Sinful Nature

 

    In the womb you were created perfect for a purpose.  Somewhere between being created and born the sinful nature becomes a part of you.  Sinning comes natural.  It feels right.  It takes having an encounter with God to really see sin for what it is.  It takes a relationship with God to really change the sinful nature.  It is not something you can do without God.

    No one had to reach you how to have a rebellious spirit.  It comes in different degrees with people, but everyone has a rebellious spirit that drives you toward sin.  It can be as simple as wanting things your way to the extreme in not believing in God at all.  

    Sin always comes with consequences.  It will always take more than you want to pay.  You can know what the consequences will be and allow that to keep your actions in check, but that doesn't change your heart.  God sees the heart.  Unless you make your heart right with God, you will never be free from your sinful nature.

    Unbelief leads to rebellion.  If you don't believe that God will do what He says He will do then why would you obey?  Walking in faith requires holy fear.  This fear is knowing the consequences and wanting to do right to be holy and not hurt the Holy Spirit.  It is not fear of the consequences like humanity faces fear.  

    Faith requires trust.  It is the opposite of sin.  Sin wants you to feed your pride while faith wants you to surrender to God's control.  The more you give control over to God the more freedom you have from the bondage of sin.  It no longer is a habit.  You are able to use your free will to do good instead of being tied to your selfish behavior.

    Sin is anything that goes against God's will or design.  That includes how you think, what you do, and the words you use that dishonor God.  It is choosing yourself over God.  In a way you make yourself your own God even if you never would admit it.  The more you hold onto control the more sin has a hold on you.

    Humanity will always struggle with the sinful nature, but it doesn't have to control you.  You can stop gossiping, crush your pride, work through obsessions or addictions, stop caring about other people's opinions, and a slew of other things that become sinful habits.  Put to death your sinful ways before they kill you.  

    Satan cast doubt into your mind.  If you feed that doubt it will push you further away from God.  If you go to scripture to fight doubt, then your faith becomes stronger and you find ways to avoid sinning.  His desire is to steal, kill, and destroy your life.  The closer you move toward God the harder Satan pursues you, but God is stronger than Satan.  If you give God control, then He can fight Satan on your behalf.  Most things that you get hit with are small in comparison to what Satan would do if he was able.

    Sin is serious.  It is choosing evil and wickedness over righteousness.  It affects every aspect of your life.  You will never be able to imagine a life that is not affected by sin until you enter Heaven.  In Heaven all these struggles disappear.  When it gets hard remember God's promises and what you are working toward: eternity.  

    Sin separates you from God.  Faith brings you closer.  Faith takes time and work, but it is stronger than the sinful nature.  Sin leads to a hard dysfunctional heart.  Faith leads to love that heals all emotional and spiritual wounds.  Sin leads to havoc, condemnation, and death.  Faith leads to love, transparent righteousness, innocence, and eternal perfection.  You are always moving more into your sinful nature or your faith.  You never stay stagnant.  It has always been your choice which you put your energy into.

Genesis 3, Psalm 51:1-6, Romans 3:23-26, 5:12-19, 6:20-23, Hebrews 12:1-4

Created Identity

 

    God created people as man and woman.  There has only ever been two sexes.  Each sex is a miracle.  You are a beautiful masterpiece made by God.  God made woman from man.  Women are made to compliment, help, and support men.  Neither sex is better than the other.  We each have our own roles, strengths, and weaknesses.  We are both stronger and better when together versus working against each other or yourself.

    Creation designed you in His likeness.  To change God's designis a sin against His masterpiece that is you.  His designing you gave your purpose in the role of your sex.  God could have created any number of sexes, but He chose two.  He could have made Eve in any way of His choosing like speaking her into existence like Adam.  However, He chose to make woman from man.  God chose to make man before woman, so the order matters too.  God can meet both male and female needs best when they are together. 

    Male and Female are distinctly different and that is a wonderful thing.  Through God's design of male and female He also designed marriage.  It is not about hierarchy or who is better.  It is about holy love.  God loves each sex equally.  Marriage was designed to serve a purpose (children), but it also is a gift.  It makes aspects of life easier.  People are the ones that complicate things.  God's design is perfect on so many levels.  God's way may not be easy, but it is simple.  

    Men were built to be strong and be able to make decisive decisions.  They are meant to lead without manipulation, bullying, or abuse of any kind.  The job of the man is to protect this world, all life, and women.  His strength does not always have to be muscles.  It can be intellect, character and other ways that show love and protection.  

    Women, it is okay to be a tomboy, tough, and strong.  Just understand that men are stronger and they can still take care of you.  Women your job is to take care of the family however that may look.  You support your man and allow him to lead.  You can give him wise wisdom, but he is the leader.  You were created to be his life partner not his mother (unless he is your child or mentally unable to be the man).  You are your man's helper.  This is an important and valuable role.  It does not demean you, but compliments your strong character and submission to God.  It takes strength to submit and not have the last word.

    Mothers, once your boy grows up, then let him go to be the man for his wife.  Father, teach your daughters on how to be led by men properly.  Parents, teach your children how to be men and women for marriage.  If that is not possible, then trust God to lead them on how to be a husband or wife.  Marriage is loving sacrificially like Jesus did for the church.  It is also okay if you stay single.  God has a purpose for you.  Singleness does not devalue at all.  It just means you have different struggles than married people.

Genesis 1:26-2:25, 5:1-2, Psalm 121: 1-2, Matthew 19:4-6, Mark 10:5-9, 1 Corinthians 15:45-49, & Ephesian 5:21-33