God's Gift of Eternal Life Blog

The purpose of this blog is two fold: 1) to accurately describe how one may receive the free gift of eternal life--Jesus Himself said in John 6:47 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life." NKJV and 2) to explore the Word of God in such a way that it will be supplementally edifying to what you're learning from your local church as well as contribute to the spiritual growth of believers in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Monday, June 28, 2021

Weekly Bible Study – June 28, 2021; When the LORD blesses us, HE loves to save the best for last.

Scripture References, Word & Phrase descriptions: the “Logos Reftagger” scripture links are hover pop-up active, meaning the scripture reference will just pop-up if you hover your cursor over it (don’t click on the link, just hover your cursor over it), when finished reading, hover your cursor off the scripture reference link. If the Reftagger pop-up doesn’t show all the verses, left click on the “More” button in the Reftagger pop-up window and it will take you to the online bible. If RefTagger pop-ups don’t work on your computer, that’s OK, try right clicking the link then open in new tab or window; or if that doesn’t work, you can always use your Bible to look up the verses. Word or Phrase definition links may not have a website that opens.

Prepare yourself for learning the Word of God!

Before we begin, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (that is; you have believed [trusted] in Him for His promised gift of eternal life), it is important to prepare yourself to learn God's Word so take a moment to name, cite or acknowledge [confess] your known unconfessed sins privately to God (i.e.; with your thoughts directed only to God the Father).

1 John 1:9 says: "If we confess our sins, He (God) is faithful and just to forgive us our sins (known sins) and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [your unknown or forgotten sins] ." NKJV [New King James Version] [italics added]; we call this REBOUND, read the full doctrine as to “why” we need to use 1 John 1:9 to grow spiritually. REBOUND

If you have never personally believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He is the Son of God, the promised Messiah, as your Savior (that is, believed in Him for eternal life), the issue for you is not to name your sins; the issue for you is to simply exercise faith alone in Jesus Christ alone eternal life; when you do, you will instantly receive Eternal Life: John 3:16, 5:24, 6:47, 20:30, 31.

John 6:47 says: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life." NKJV [italics added]

Notice again what Jesus said in John 6:47: "…he who believes in Me (Jesus Christ) has everlasting life." It doesn't say, "will have"; it says, "has." Therefore, the very moment you believe in Jesus Christ for His promise of everlasting life, you have it (it's really just that simple; nothing more and nothing less), and it can never be taken away from you (John 10:28-29). Furthermore, the gift (Ephesians 2:8c) of everlasting life (also called eternal life in scripture) is available to every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.

John 3:14-15, 16, 17, 18, says: "¹⁴ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷ For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. ¹⁸ He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." NKJV

Let us now bow our hearts and take a moment to prepare for worship and learning God's Word. If there is any known sin in your life, this is the time to just cite it privately to God the Father with your thoughts directed towards Him. With your head bowed and your eyes closed, you have total privacy in your mind and soul:

Study to show yourself approved to God!

Grace Bible Church Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries

Doctrinal Statement

The Tree of Life is a weekly teaching summary: God’s Word is taught Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday

Alphabetical Listing of Terms & Abbreviations used:

STUDY TITLE:

When the LORD blesses us, HE loves to save the best for last.

Prepare yourself for learning the Word of God!

John 6:47 says: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life." NKJV [italics added]

Study to show yourself approved to God!

Grace Bible Church Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries

Doctrinal Statement

The Tree of Life is a weekly teaching summary: God’s Word is taught Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday

Alphabetical Listing of Terms & Abbreviations used:

STUDY TITLE:

When the LORD blesses us, HE loves to save the best for last.

Jn 2:1-5, And on the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; and Jesus also was invited, and His disciples, to the wedding. And when the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what do I have to do with you? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

Now, let’s join the wedding in progress in Jn 2:6-11, Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.”

And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Draw {some} out now, and take it to the headwaiter.” And they took it {to him.} And when the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when {men} have drunk freely, {then} that which is poorer; you have kept the good wine until now.” This beginning of {His} signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.

Now, our Lord saved the good wine until the end and gave the lesser wine in the beginning of the wedding illustrating that when the Lord blesses us, He loves to save the best for last.

So, our Lord takes water, (a common substance), and without a word, without a gesture, without any laying on of hands, in utter simplicity, HE turns the water into wine. And by that, I mean the finest wine that only the Lord could provide. It was the type of wine that makes man’s heart glad as stated in Psa 104:15, Wine which makes man’s heart glad, So that he may make {his} face glisten with oil, And food which sustains man’s heart.

Now, in this first miracle, the Lord doesn’t add anything to HIS commands, HE just fulfills them according to HIS Word. He can do it because He is the Living Word and we can learn about it because He is the written Word.

The principle is that all the Lord has to do is “speak the word” and whatever He says will come to pass.

Heb 11:1-3, Now faith is the assurance of {things} hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

In this wedding miracle, the Lord is now willing to use His deity to reveal both His Deity and Humanity. So, notice that the Lord does not show us a law of nature concerning the fermentation of the wine that comes from the Creator, who is in the midst of performing a miracle right in front of all who were there. He simply creates.

The significance to the Jewish audience back in Cana of Galilee would have been apparent. Old Testament has a symbolism between wine and the presence of the Messiah as well as the Holy Spirit.

Now, you have heard this passage many times before and perhaps more importantly, those Jews who were guests at the first wedding were basically familiar with the Jewish Wedding customs and knew the customs that the pots were to be used only for water to cleanse them in ceremony.

What our Lord seems to be doing is revealing to everyone that He is the One who creates the past, the present and even the future because all things are controlled and managed by Him. There is another very important principle that we also have learned and that is the fact that we should value the time that we wait upon the Lord and His Timing.

Our Lord’s will is that His Word does not demand that God meet our schedule or our desires in our timing but always “in His Time.” He will do what He wants, when He wants, all in His perfect timing and His perfect sovereignty. So, notice that even the first miracle has the purpose of building faith in the Gospel, whether faith in the Gospel or faith in our Lord’s doctrine; they both are the same because their source is the same.

Because of this and other passages, the Lord stated what the apostle Paul had to learn to teach the gentiles concerning who Jesus Christ is as the one in total authority in our Life. Beginning in Col 1:15, And He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. The invisible God means that He cannot be seen by others like He can be seen by us, especially by those who have PVTD [positive volition towards doctrine.

The phrase “the first-born of all creation” refers to preeminence, the privileges that were given to a “first-born son” which all belong to Him. In the Bible, the first-born son in the family carries with it three basic principles:

1. Rulership of the family. And the Lord Jesus Christ is the “Prince Ruler of the church.”

2. The privilege of the Priesthood and the Lord Jesus Christ is a Royal Priest after the order of Melchizedek which means that there is a priesthood that has no beginning and no end, and our Lord is a priest forever.

3. The privilege of receiving a double portion.

The Lord Jesus Christ has two ruler ships, Israel and the Church. Israel, whom He rules as the Son of David. The Church whom He rules as the Lord of Lords and the King of kings. In the Old Testament, the firstborn son was the one who normally received a double inheritance and was the one who would inherit his father’s role as head of the family. God sometimes reversed this order, as he did with Jacob and Esau.

So, in Col 1:15-20, And He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, {both} in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything.

For it was the {Father’s} good pleasure for all the fulness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, {I say}, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

Back in Jn 2, all of our Lord’s miracles build up to what is the most important glorious work of Christ: His work and death on the Cross that has the following doctrines which describe that work.

Let me give you the theological terms that the word of God uses to describe the work on the Cross.

1. His spiritual and physical death.

2. His burial.

3. His victorious proclamation.

4. His resurrection.

5. His ascension.

6. His session.

It is also remarkably interesting that our Lord and the bride and the groom, the servants and the guests, the wedding party, the family, and the disciples were all there at the Wedding of Cana. Yet, we are not told if anyone became saved or followers of our Lord Jesus Christ even though they all saw it from different vantage points.

And this illustrates that everyone can see and hear the same things, but they see and hear it from different points of view. There is really no record of anyone at the wedding believing upon the Lord. Maybe they did, because it is always true that: Many individuals will see the works of God and hear the word of God, and yet, they still will not respond in faith even though they all heard the same Gospel and the same doctrine.

Now, let me give you a definition of the works that were accomplished of the Cross so that you will be able to understand what those works are and what they truly refer to. And I am not giving these in any special order so you can write them down or just listen under the filling of the Spirit

First of all, His spiritual and physical death refers to the fact that our Lord died twice on the cross; one was a spiritual death or being separated from God, while the other is physical death which we all die with the exception of the Rapture generation. It is important to realize the difference between spiritual death and physical death. For example, when Rm 6:23 says, For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The death that is mentioned here is spiritual death and not physical death.

This principle can be understood simply by the fact that if the Lord died physically then why do we still die? But the death that He died for us had to be a spiritual death because we all still die physically but we will never die spiritually or be separated from God because Christ died for all or everyone. But there is one death that believers will never die and that is spiritual death or being separated from God forever. No believer will ever have to die spiritually because our Lord died for us or in our place.

It was our Lord’s spiritual death which was being separated from God the Father on the Cross which our Lord died for us and allows us to accept in our position, union with the death and burial of our Lord Jesus Christ. This means that when He died, we died; Rom 6:4.

So, again, Rom 6:4, Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. This means that when He was buried, we were buried or identified with Him as well. As Paul wrote in another passage in Col 2:12, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. Notice what we have here which is the fact we have also been raised up with Him through faith in the works of God.

Rom 6:23, For the wages of sin or the sin nature is [spiritual death or separation from God] which our Lord had never fell into but was willing to go through on our behalf especially if we desire to know Him, and love Him to the point of following Him.

This is what the apostle Paul also said in 2Co 5:21, He made Him who knew no sin {to be} sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

This is one of the many results of spiritual death, not only that our Lord died for us spiritually and because of that, He was willing to go to the Cross and be separated from His Father for the first time ever.

So, first of all, the physical death is the reason why all of us still die physically and why we need to be born-again spiritually. Also, having “the new thoughts that come from having a new life” through the divine thoughts our Lord possessed is having a life changing attitude.

It is these divine thoughts that give us the power to fulfill passages like the Apostle Paul said in Phil 2:5, Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, what attitude? The attitude our Lord had as Phil 2:3 begins to describe to us.

Phil 2:3-8, Do nothing motivated by contentiousness or ambitious pride, but with humility of mind [by means of grace orientation] let each of you keep on considering one another as more important than himself; do not merely be regarding your own personal interests, but also for the personal interests of others. “Keep on thinking this [doctrine] within yourselves which was also resident in Christ Jesus,” who, although He preexisted in the essence of God, did not think equality with God a gain to be seized, “but He deprived Himself of the proper function of deity when He had received the form of a servant and was born in the likeness of men.” In fact, although having been discovered in outward appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of spiritual death, that is the death of the cross.

Now, all of these principles I have given to you so far is based upon what our Lord said to us, spiritually and physically, as in Jn 19:30, When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit.

Now, when He said, “it was finished,” He was talking about the work that God the Father accomplished on the cross that motivated what the Lord had done by that one word, Tetelestai which means, “It is finished in the past with the result that it goes on being finished forever.

The next work from the Cross is our identification with Him through His Resurrection.

Rom 6:5, For if we have become united with {Him} in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also {in the likeness} of His resurrection,

After He was raised from the dead, He walked around on earth for another 50 days or so and then He this world by His ascension to go to heaven and sit down at the right hand of God. His ascension or His final trip to heaven until the Rapture is taught in Ehp 4:8-10, Therefore it says, “WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.” (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)

Our Lord has been to heaven and back to earth in His ascension and is the only one that has ever done so. Jn 3:13, And no one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, {even} the Son of Man. Finally, He is seated in the doctrine of the session, the highest place of promotion for any member of the human race and He is waiting for the Father to tell Him, “Go back and get your bride and bring her back to heaven to be with You forever.

The final work of the Cross is after our Lord died, He went to Hades and taught the Old Testament saints a message that we call His Victorious Proclamation and at the same time He spoke to the fallen angels who had been thrown down to Hades for breaking the rules of the Angelic Conflict.

Remember what we already noted Jn 15:1, “I [Jesus Christ] am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.” Now, here’s some questions that need to be answered. What is your vine? Who is He? How does He work? What does He expect from you? It is amazing how many Christians have other vines in their lives from which they seek their resources but not the resources of God. Ask yourself, “How many things have I attached myself to have taken me away from God?”

Lk 12:16-21, And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a certain rich man was very productive. And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops? And he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years {to come;} take your ease, eat, drink {and} be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This {very} night your soul is required of you; and {now} who will own what you have prepared?’ So is the man who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

The following link is to a good news message describing how one can receive eternal life: Ticket to Heaven, it was written for anyone not absolutely certain about their eternal future.

Sunday, June 27, 2021

Internet Church Service – June 27, 2021; The importance of The Doctrine of Positional Truth as well as The Doctrine of Unity.

EMBEDDED VIDEO SERMON in HD – WITH NOTES

The importance of The Doctrine of Positional Truth as well as The Doctrine of Unity.

Please join us as we fellowship in the Word of God, listen to Christian Music, Pray in Christ’s Name, and Praise the Lord Our God in our Hearts and Minds.

ALL ARE WELCOME

from - Romans 8:38-39

Hymn #1

Hymn #2

Preparing yourself for the study of God’s Word

Before we begin, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ (that is— you have believed in Him for eternal life), it is important to prepare yourself to take-in God’s Word or participating in a Communion Service, so take a moment to name, cite or acknowledge your unconfessed sins privately directly to God the Father. This will assure that you are in fellowship with God the Father and the Holy Spirit’s convicting ministry, also called the convincing ministry will then be able to teach you as the Holy Spirit is the real teacher and the pastor’s message is the vehicle the Holy Spirit uses to convince you what you are learning is true or not.

1 John 1:9, says—“If we confess (simply name, cite or acknowledge to God the Father] our sins [known sins], He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins [known sins] and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness [all unknown and forgotten sins];” NKJV (New King James Version); we call this REBOUND, read the full doctrine as to “why” we need to use 1 John 1:9 to grow spiritually. REBOUND

If you have never personally believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior (that is, believed in Him for eternal life>), the issue for you is not to name your sins to God; the issue for you is to believe by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life and you will be saved the very second you believe in Him:

John 6:47 says: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life.” NKJV

Notice again what John 6:47 says, “he who believes in Me [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life.” It doesn’t say, “will have”; it says, “has.” Therefore, the very moment you believe Jesus Christ’s promise of everlasting life, you have it (it’s really just that simple), and it can never be lost or taken away from you (John 10:28-29). Furthermore, the gift of everlasting life (also called eternal life in scripture) is available to every human being; there are absolutely no exceptions.

John 3:14-18 says: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” NKJV

Let us now bow our hearts and take a moment to prepare for learning God’s Word, if there is any known sin in your life, this is the time to just cite it privately to God the Father with your thoughts directed towards Him. With your head bowed and your eyes closed, you have total privacy in your mind and soul:

Our Pastor-Teacher is:

Robert McLaughlin - Grace Bible Church and Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries

Terms used by RMBM

Doctrinal Statement

This ministry is non-denominational and is dedicated to teaching the Word of God from the original languages and making it available at no charge throughout the world.

OPTIONAL: On-line Bible – NASB95

Sermon

NOTES

Unlike the bible study, these notes are not just for reading without watching the video. These notes are more designed to follow along during the sermon and to bring up the “hover pop-up scripture references” (some websites may require to left click the link, if that doesn’t work then look them up in your Bible) when the Pastor asks everyone to turn to that passage in their bibles.

The importance of The Doctrine of Positional Truth as well as The Doctrine of Unity.

The Vine and the branches and the intimacy that should develop and exist between our Lord as the True vine and Church-age believers as the branches.

We need to note the importance of “The Doctrine of Positional Truth” as well as “The Doctrine of Unity,” especially as it relates to believers in the Church-age.

Main purpose = to reveal to God’s children the many areas of Unity, Oneness, Intimacy, and the Union between God and man, through the God-man, our Lord Jesus Christ.

The number eight in the Bible signifies Resurrection and Regeneration. It is the number of a new beginning.

Under numerology — 8 = 7 + 1, = signifies an end to something, so eight is also associated with the beginning of a new era or that of a new order.

The following eight descriptions then refer to the beginning of a New Era or that of 1. The Last Adam and the New Creation; 2Co 5:17, Gal 6:15. According to the Word of God, there are only two Adam’s; the first Adam or the Last Adam.

The first Adam and the last Adam represent the entire human race, in which, the first Adam lost dominion over the earth resulting in Satan becoming the god of this world.

The Last Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ, came into this world and gained the victory back that the First Adam lost — our Lord is said to be the “Head” of the body and He will use that headship when He comes back with His saints.

Notice — The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life giving spirit.

Here we have a reference to only two Adam’s = The first man, Adam, and the last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ.

2. The intimacy that should exist between the Head and the Body.

Eph 1:22-23, And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all.

Col 1:18 He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the first born from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything.

3. The Shepherd and the Sheep analogy emphasizes the provisions and the protection from Satan and the Kingdom of darkness.

Mt 9:36 And seeing the multitudes, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd.

4. The Vine and the branches; Jn 15:1-8, emphasizes the fruit of the Spirit that our Lord produced from the True Vine.

5. The Cornerstone and the building; Mark 12:10 “Have you not even read this Scripture: #’The stone which the builders rejected; this became the chief corner {stone};

The Cornerstone and the building emphasize the unity that exists between the Jews and the Gentiles because our Lord is the chief cornerstone between them both.

6. The High Priest and the Royal Priesthood.

Heb 3:1 Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.

7. The Groom and the Bride analogy; Eph 5:22-33.

Key Verse = Eph 5:32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

8. The King of kings and the Royal Family of God; 1Pe 2:5; 2:9; Rev 1:6.

There are four meanings to this signature guarantee or the Sealing ministry of the Holy Spirit.

1. A guarantee of the grace of God.

2. A guarantee of eternal life.

3. A guarantee of eternal security.

4. A guarantee of your very own portfolio of invisible assets.

The word for “sealed” is the noun sphragizo which means to set a seal upon something or to mark with a seal.

1. It was used in the ancient world for business transactions or business contracts. In the ancient world, signet rings were placed over wax and the transaction was finished.

Do you remember what the father gave to the prodigal son when he came back?

Something was hindering him that he felt that he was missing something that the world could offer him and that his life was just fading away.

They are both sons as we all are in our position in Christ. They both were the father’s sons when it started, and both will still be His sons when this passage finishes.

The older religious son who was legalistic was the worse one between the two brothers.

Only his arrogant legalistic self-righteous brother said that he spent it all on “harlots or prostitutes” in verse 30.

The Bible doesn’t specify what the prodigal son did. All the Bible says is that it was just loose living and that’s it.

He spent it all. He spent everything that he had, and he was broke.

Prin: Whenever a believer goes astray, eventually he will come to a point, as the last part of this verse says, when he will begin to be in need.

Second Prin: Having forsaken his very own father who represents God, he can now find nothing but poverty, misery, and want.

The human soul is empty if God does not fill it; Ecc 3:11.

When the famine hit, he was starving, and he began to be in need and he couldn’t even find a job.

Until then, he’d never known hunger because he was always provided for by his loving father, the one he turned his back on.

He attached himself to the pigs on the farm (kollao) meaning to glue or to closely unite himself to a citizen of that foreign country which represents the devil’s children instead of God’s.

Prin: The further a believer goes away from God, the nearer he comes to being a slave to the devil.

There is no master as cruel as the Devil; No burden so heavy as that of the old sin nature;

No slavery so nasty as slavery to the old sin nature and the carnal, shameful, passions of the flesh.

Times of distress often lead to self-examination and are used by God to bring about changes or repentance in people’s lives.

The key issue is recognizing who we are in Christ and not who we use to be in Adam or the old man.

This young man still held on to the belief that he could maintain his self-sufficiency; his separation from his father; even though it meant complete humiliation.

His emptiness was shown by the job that he had to take, tending pigs.

There could be no worse job for a Jew than feeding pigs according to Jewish history and the Works of the Jewish Historian known as Titus Flavius Josephus (Roman and Jewish Historian).

Jm 2:19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.

He’s starving while he’s working because pay day only comes after the pigs are marketed.

2Pe 2:22 It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “A dog returns to its own vomit,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”

This shows the humiliation the young man was now enduring especially in light of the fact that he has forgotten that once a son, always a son.

For the Prodigal Son, gone were the fine robes and the rich food, because he was occupied with the filthiest of jobs from a Jewish perspective.

His hunger was so great that he considered filling his own belly with the pig slop covered with skubula.

The food that he was feeding the pigs called pods made passable livestock food, but despicable human food.

The detestable pigs who were even demon possessed were now eating better than the prodigal son who had left his father and all that he wanted now was to become a servant or a slave.

Many times you do your best thinking on an empty stomach.

This man finally became honest with himself and looked at his life from a biblical perspective….which means to face up with the situation as it really exists.

Recognize where you failed and pick up the pieces and go on and live as the Apostle Paul says to live in Phil 3:12-15.

The point is to stop rationalizing or justifying yourself. Stop blaming others for your failures.

This is not a parable about what happens to a believer when he sins, this is a parable about what happens to a believer when he changes his lifestyle.

He knew that the hired servants in his father’s household were even far better off than he was.

Self-realization of the hopeless and useless predicament of the sinful life is the first step towards true repentance.

The believer must see that his own actions have led him away from the loving Father.

You must realize that the seeming pleasures of the sinful life are vanishing and un-satisfying, while life with the Father is full and rich.

The believer must understand that a life of sin offers only destruction, while life with the Father offers prosperity and happiness.

Until a person can be con¬victed of the reality that he travels a dead-end road, true repentance cannot come to pass.

Please notice, rebound in verse 18, I have sinned.

Lk 15:19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men., it’s ridiculous.”

Do you tell the Lord you’re not worthy? If you do, you are not being humble but instead you are being arrogant.

His big problem now isn’t loose living, it’s arrogance.

The same problem his brother has….who isn’t living it up at all and who is still at home with his father and judging members of his own family.

The doctrine of eternal security says we are the sons of God and we will always be a son.

Whether we are worthy or unworthy doesn’t change our sonship.

Treat me like one of your servants, one of those hired hands, which by the way is an insult to his father.

His father has no character and no integrity, and He is not the forgiving type.

His father is a wonderful person and this is a magnificent way of expressing God the Father and His love, mercy and grace.

His Father saw him while he was a long way off.

The father’s not interested in some asinine speech like; “I’m no longer worthy to be called your son!”

The father was filled with compassion and his father ran to him.

“Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him”

The best robe represents restoration to full experiential righteousness.

LUK 15:22……and put a ring on his hand which was the signature to the Father’s checkbook.

This was a signet ring representing withdrawing from the Father’s resources, logistical grace.

In LUK 15:22…….and sandals on his feet; which means that once again you’re getting the opportunity of service and production.

The fattened calf represents fellowship in the word, feeding on divine truth or Bible doctrine.

The divine attitude of grace when you’re brought back into fellowship with God.

The son wanted to do some penance from leaving his father.

He wanted to make it up to the Father or to compensate for his wrong decisions.

The father had no intentions of making him a hired servant just like He has no intentions of making us anything less than perfect.

Hymn #3

The following link is to a good-news message describing how one can receive eternal life: Ticket to Heaven, it was written for anyone not absolutely certain about of their eternal future.

Thursday, June 24, 2021

True or False? GOD’S GIFT OF “ETERNAL LIFE” IS GIVEN INSTANTLY TO ALL WHO SIMPLY BELIEVE IN JESUS, THE CHRIST! John 6:47

TRUE OR FALSE?

REVISED

^*GOD’S GIFT OF “ETERNAL LIFE” IS GIVEN INSTANTLY TO

ALL WHO SIMPLY BELIEVE IN JESUS, THE CHRIST! John 6:47

If ¹ it is true, what exactly must one do to receive this gift of eternal life? In the Gospel of John, chapter 6, verse ⁶47, the Apostle John recorded his eyewitness testimony of what Jesus Himself said: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me² has everlasting life.” NKJV [everlasting life and eternal life are synonymous terms in the Bible]. Jesus clearly states in this verse that anyone who believes (trusts) in Him for eternal salvation, receives eternal life instantly. But what is it that we need to believe about Jesus? The Apostle John makes it clear in John 20:30-31: …that Jesus is the Christ [Christ means Messiah], the Son of God; and that believing you may have life [eternal life] in His Name. In other words, to believe in Him is equivalent to believing that He is the Christ [Messiah], the Son of God.

Now, notice again what Jesus said in John 6:47: “he who believes in Me has everlasting life.” He did not say will have, He said has. Simply put, God’s gift of eternal life (Ephesians 2:8) is given to believers instantaneously at their moment of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; in other words, the very micro second a person is persuaded of the truth about what God’s Word says a person must do to receive eternal salvation (like when the Jailer asked the Apostle Paul and Silas in Acts 16:30-31; ³⁰“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” ³¹So they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved…) and then simply believes in Jesus Christ and he/she instantaneously possesses everlasting life [John 6:47] (it’s really that simple—nothing more and nothing less). Therefore, the correct answer to the opening question is: True!

Furthermore, the mental act of believing in Jesus Christ is all that is needed to be saved. The very second anyone crosses the line from unbelief to belief in Jesus Christ, they are saved [that is, saved from the great white throne judgment of all unbelievers at the end of time and from being cast into the lake of fire which would be eternal separation from God Revelation 20:11-15; John 5:24]. In other words, the new believer now actually possesses God’s gift of eternal life; meaning he or she is guaranteed: 1) unending life [meaning, the believers eternal relationship with God will never end, not even at physical death]; 2) resurrection to a new glorified physical body that will be immortal; and 3) eternal participation in the world to come ³[Titus 3:4-7; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52; Philippians 3:20-21; John 6:38-40], all this plus much, much, much more comes with simply believing in Jesus Christ. And, it is literally impossible to ever lose your eternal life or have it taken from you (John 10:28-29), not even if you later change your mind and stop believing [if that were to happen, the born-again believer will most likely experience serious discipline from God and lose some or all of any temporal and/or eternal rewards (1 Corinthians 3:11-15) that person may have accumulated from any good works he/she had accomplished while ⁷in the Spirit,² but you can never change the fact that you once believed; therefore, eternal life can never be lost or taken from you, no matter what!]. Another way to think of it would be, if you could lose eternal life, God would not have used the words “eternal” or “everlasting” life. How long is eternal life? Forever!

It is Jesus the Christ [Messiah], who is both true humanity and undiminished deity as the Son of God in one person who is the object in the eternal salvation of the unbeliever; for all who by simple faith alone believe in Him alone, the result to the one who believes will be the instant gift of eternal life ⁴(John 20:30-31). It is very important to understand that belief in Him is truly a mental act of believing that Jesus’ promise of everlasting life is true and then it’s entirely up to you to believe in Him for it, when you have believed mentally in Him, that is the actual point of saving faith. In other words, the point of saving faith, the mental act of believing actually occurs before you are able to formulate in your mind what to say to God in audible words (like when you learned something new in school, you believed what the teachers said in your mind first, then you formulated the words, in thought only, “e.g., I get it or I understand;” therefore, believing always happens in the mind first, never audibly. Therefore, the magnificence of God’s infinite knowledge ⁷(Omniscience) hears the unbelievers thought of belief in Christ instantly as he or she thinks it and just as instantly that unbeliever is saved [i.e., given actual possession of eternal life]. Hallelujah! Praise our God and Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

So far, we have reviewed what is required of the unsaved individual in order to receive eternal life. Since there is so much confusion and false teaching regarding the core of what is required of us to be saved, we need to also review what is not required. As has already been made clear, receiving God’s absolutely free gift of “eternal life” does not require anything other than to believe in Jesus Christ (Messiah), the Son of God. Therefore, one does not need to repent of one’s sins before believing in Christ [now read carefully what I am going to say next; repentance is not prohibited—it is totally OK to be repentant of your sins before and/or after one believes but the point is, it is not a necessary condition or requirement to be eternally saved—fact is, the doctrine of repentance is never even mentioned in the Gospel of John which is the only book in the Bible written primarily to those who have not yet believed in Jesus Christ; this would include those who have been deceived or are totally confused by false teaching and today’s confusing Christian rhetoric often included in alleged gospel messages in tracts & from the pulpit]. If you would like a much broader explanation regarding the subject of repentance not being a requirement or condition to be eternally saved, I urge you to read the following article by Zane Hodges: Repentance.

What about water baptism? Contrary to popular thought, it too is not a necessary condition or requirement to be eternally saved. It certainly is OK to be water baptized but failure to be water baptized after one has believed in Jesus Christ does not affect the gift of eternal life in any way. An example of a reason to be baptized after one is eternally saved would be to express one’s faith publicly to his/her circle of friends and relatives; or simply just as an expression of one’s faith publicly; or like when someone intends to become a disciple of Jesus Christ, (Matthew 28:19).

Robert N. Wilkin, Th.M., Ph.D., Dallas Theological Seminary; Founder and Executive Director of the Grace Evangelical Society explains it very well in his journal article titled: He Who Believes And Is Baptized Will Be Saved – Mark 16:16. Here’s a quote from that article: In verse 16b: “Jesus didn't say, ‘He who is not baptized will be condemned.’ Neither did He say, ‘He who does not believe and is not baptized will be condemned.’ Rather, He said, ‘He who does not believe will be condemned.’ By this our Lord made it clear that faith alone in Christ alone was necessary to avoid eternal condemnation. He said the same thing in John 3:18: ‘He who believes in Him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God;’ NKJV (see also John 5:24; John 6:47).” For further clarification, I urge you to read the entire article, to do so, just click the title link above. Also, I encourage you to review another excellent article with a little more detail titled: Is Water Baptism Necessary for Salvation? by G. Michael Cocoris. A concluding quote from that article is:

“The New Testament teaches that eternal salvation happens at the point of faith and that baptism is not part of the gospel. Most passages often used to teach that water baptism is necessary for eternal life do not even speak about water baptism, but rather about spiritual baptism. No passage in the New Testament says that water baptism is essential for getting into heaven. Therefore, water baptism is not necessary as a means of obtaining eternal life.”

Furthermore, receiving eternal salvation does not require feeling sorry for one’s sins or to change one’s behavior before or after believing in Christ [behavior change will become a reality only as you grow spiritually in your post salvation life.]

(Again, these things are not prohibited—it is OK to do so, but again, the point is they are not a condition or requirement to be eternally saved); nor is it necessary to commit the rest of one’s life to Jesus before or after believing or even to ask Jesus to come into one’s heart before or after believing. These phrases and conditions are not in the bible; when false teachers and false evangelists add to or replace what the Word of God says, it ultimately confuses at best and even can persuade the unsaved to think they are necessary conditions or requirements that he or she must do in addition to faith alone in Jesus Christ alone to be eternally saved [that is, to receive the gift of eternal life].

By adding the above mentioned extra requirements and conditions [what the Bible calls “works”], that would make eternal salvation the result of “faith” and “works” together which is false doctrine. Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 4:4-5 and Romans 11:6 are quite clear that salvation comes by “faith alone” and not “works.” Many false teachers (Galatians 1:7-9; 2 Corinthians 11:14-15) today, in their quest to be creative in their gospel presentation, in effect are actually adding to scripture (even well intentioned pastors have adopted the use of these catchy words and phrases rather than emphasizing what the Bible says), but in reality, they are elevating their words above the Words of God (To emphasize the seriousness of adding to or subtracting from the Book of Revelation, in its closing verses, the Apostle John gave a strong warning against doing such a thing. (Revelation 22:18-19). It is tragically unfortunate for the unsaved responder that 100’s or even 1,000’s of pastors today have picked up on these popular gimmick phrases and use them, because it only adds confusion about God’s Word regarding their eternal future regarding eternal life.

It is the inspired word “believe” that the Apostle John used nearly 100 times in the Gospel of John that we need to use (e.g., John 6:47— “…he who believes in Me, has everlasting life.” and, John 3:16—“…that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”); then the ⁷convincing or convicting ministry of God the Holy Spirit who causes the individual unbeliever to comprehend Gospel truths, will make the information clear to anyone who responds positively to the gospel.
Sometimes we don’t realize the subtleties of our great enemy Satan (1 Peter 5:8) but we need to be constantly aware that he and his horde of demons ⁷(fallen angels) are extremely active in the world today. These demons are the ones whose responsibility it is to carry out Satan’s counterfeit deceptions; consequently, they target the very core of the gospel message of the Lord Jesus Christ, because they want to blind the unsaved to the truth of the saving gospel message (2 Corinthians 11:3; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15), and also, to distract born-again believers from fulfilling God’s plan of pursuing and reaching spiritual maturity. I cannot think of a better way to deceive the unsaved than by influencing well intending preachers and evangelists to alter what scripture says about what we must believe to be eternally saved. (1 Timothy 4:1)

Ask yourself this question: How often do I look up sermon support passages at home after church or from articles like this one? Many communicators of God’s Word quote scripture related to the gospel correctly from the pulpit but then turn right around and say in their “invitation” at the end of their sermon something like the following): “you can be saved right now, right where you sit, all you need do is, “ask Jesus to come into your heart,” or they might say: “first repent of your sins and then invite Jesus into your heart;” or even “invite Jesus to become the Lord of your life—to rule and reign in your heart from this day forward.” Many times, the responder is so emotionally charged by this kind of alter call, he/she just does what the preacher says to do and when they do it, they then get even more emotionally charged and joyfully think they are now born-again. To the responder’s misfortune, if a person is led to believe that they need to do three things or even two things rather than simply believing in Christ alone for everlasting life, they have been given false information. In other words, the added conditions and requirements may persuade the unbeliever to actually believe the false doctrine they’ve just been told about how to be saved; therefore, the person is still unsaved. Sadly, the responder does not realize it, they think, based on the conditions the preacher or evangelist said they must do is the complete truth, but in fact, it is not; it is counterfeit doctrine [not bible truth], like what “1 Timothy 4:1” is referring to; adding to scripture by means of demon influence is what makes the doctrine false. We are born-again when we simply “believe” by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone; the result will be the permanent gift of eternal life [i.e., eternal salvation]; again, what did Jesus say in John 6:47? “…he who believes in Me has everlasting life.” [NKJV—New King James Version]. Hopefully, if the above scenarios were to happen to somebody in real life, that is, those who were originally told a counterfeit gospel, the true gospel message was presented to them accurately sometime soon after, and believed it, if they did, they would now be born-again. With many people, the actual moment of faith in Christ can be a long time in coming, months or even years, before that little light (so-to-speak) in their head clicks on—like when you completely understand something you had not fully comprehended before and you think to yourself—Wow! I get it!

I was one of those, I didn’t believe in Jesus Christ right away but I did what the preacher told me to do and walked the aisle at his altar call and I was very emotionally charged. I think it was around two years after I had responded to the counterfeit gospel alter call (I don’t even know the actual date I was saved), during that time period, I thought I was saved at the altar call but it wasn’t until I understood, I needed to simply believe by faith alone in Christ alone to instantly receive His promised “eternal life” and did so and was saved.

Some unbelievers might ask: Why would a good understanding of John 6:47 be of any importance to an unbeliever (e.g., agnostics, atheists, those who are totally confused, or even those of other religions)? A reasonable answer would be, because when he or she passes into the eternal future (i.e., the afterlife, the hereafter), the unbeliever will reside wherever he or she lands “forever”—that’s right “forever.” (I think even an agnostic or atheist might agree that “forever” is a very, very long time).

The Word of God tells us the human race has free-will (God will never interfere or coerce man’s free will) and all can choose to be with God forever in His ⁷heaven, or they can choose to remain separated from Him forever (Revelation 20:11-15) spending eternity in the ⁷lake of fire, which is the final destination of all unbelievers and the fallen angels. Odd as it may sound to some, the choice is real and ours to make. However, if we don’t cognitively make the choice to believe in Jesus Christ and receive His promised eternal life during our physical lifetime, the automatic default is separation from Him and God (John 3:18), forever.

However, there are limited exceptions to the automatic default; we discern from two of God’s attributes (“Justice and Love”) that each individual human being, beginning at their ⁷age of mental accountability, is volitionally responsible and will be held accountable for what they have believed in time regarding Jesus Christ and His offer of eternal salvation. However: babies (2 Samuel 12:23), young children and those born severely mentally handicapped (Jonah 4:11) are automatically saved and will go to heaven when they die since they lack the mental capacity to reach God-consciousness [recognizing the existence of a supreme being, and able to understand the Gospel], they cannot be held accountable for their decisions, all others are without excuse.

On other discussion boards, many have expressed their views and beliefs with sincerity and respect regarding the afterlife. Many people question whether there is life after this one. Others firmly believe this is all there is and we just cease to exist at physical death. It is my contention that everyone has a faith belief in something, even the atheist and agnostic. Everyone who has expressed their beliefs in other forums that I have read say they believe in something; is not believing there is no God, a belief? Or believing we all cease to exist when we die, a belief? Or believe that mankind evolved from a single cell billions of years ago, also a belief? There are many, many beliefs. To that end, I think it is reasonable and makes good sense for an unbeliever to devote some serious time to checking out what the Word of God has to say about God’s gift of salvation and their eternal future and to do so before one’s time runs out. If one is not a believer in Jesus Christ, there is much to gain if one were to be persuaded by God the Holy Spirit’s ⁷convincing ministry that their long-held belief has been wrong, so there is really nothing an unbeliever can lose by seriously checking it out. According to God’s Word, when an unbeliever enters into the afterlife, it will be too late (Luke 16:22-31), belief in Jesus Christ must occur before physical death. The rich man who had died and was buried and now was in torments (⁵Hades—temporary hell) mentioned in the Luke verses was now very much aware of where he was now located but he could do nothing about it.

Would it not be entirely reasonable that a “just” and “fair” God would provide adequate, easily attainable, accurate and understandable information for unbelievers about Jesus’ promise of eternal life so they could make an informed decision, “for” or “against” Him? Of the 66 books of the Bible, the “Gospel of John” is the only book in the Word of God written primarily to those who have not yet believed in Christ (John 20:30-31); again, this includes those who are confused by false religious rhetoric, false religious doctrines, and/or have been persuaded to believe false information about how to receive eternal salvation. If someone has been given false salvation doctrine, believed it and is now relying on that belief for eternal life, that would make that person still not saved, would it not?

That someone chooses to believe about Christ is entirely between them and God the Father, that’s freedom of choice. However, a core purpose of this discussion group, if you decide to join, is to help provide people on the fence with accurate information (i.e., offer them key verses in scripture, provide links to articles, papers and/or audios & videos by recognized born-again Christian scholars and through objective discussion). If those on the fence are truly open minded to God’s Word and are willing to seek the Truth and seriously consider the Word of God as that Truth, it will be God the Holy Spirit who will make it clear in the minds of the unbeliever as to whether or not the salvation information being presented to them is correct. Then, an individual will have the perfect right to decide “for” or “against” the promised salvation offer because it is their God given right to simply believe by faith alone in Christ Jesus alone and so doing, receive God’s free gift of eternal life or reject Him and His promise.

Therefore, I encourage anyone who is not absolutely certain about their eternal future, not to take just my word for it, but go directly to the authoritative source, the Word of God, and read the Gospel of John, when the page opens, click on the word “more” to start at the beginning of the book; (it’s only a click away—if you’re a slow reader, consider reading a chapter a day), especially if you have never read it. It is an “eye witness” testimony of what the Apostle John actually witnessed himself about Jesus’ signs, miracles and teachings (John 20:30-31; John 21:24-25). You may not fully grasp some of the more technical words or phrases, but you should definitely get the big picture of what John’s testimony is clearly communicating. I personally favor the “New King James Version;” however, I think the New American Standard Bible is also excellent. As you read through the Gospel of John, you will read the recorded words of Jesus Christ [Christ means: Messiah], the uniquely born Son of God who became both man and God at the same time, who was crucified and resurrected to guarantee eternal life to all believers, who paid the penalty for the sins of the entire world (past, present and future) so all mankind would have the opportunity to receive the “free gift” of eternal life. The message of eternal life is proclaimed throughout the Book of John, here are just a few more examples: John 3:14-16; John 3:36; John 5:20-24; John 6:47, 35, 40, 68-69; John 20:31.

Another thought, if you are not an avid reader, is to watch the full-length feature movie: the Gospel of John (film) is a 2003 movie that is the story of Jesus' life as recounted by the Apostle John. It is a motion picture that has been adapted for the screen on a word-for-word basis from the American Bible Society's - Good News Bible [GNB]. This three-hour epic feature film follows John's Gospel precisely, without additions to the story from other Gospels, nor omission of complex passages. It’s really a fantastic movie. If you want to watch it, you can do it on YouTube for free (the red link above will take you through it non-stop—it’s a three hour movie so try to pick a time to see it through in one sitting if possible), if you have a capable monitor you can view it in HD and Full Screen, just do a “Control Left Click” on the red link above [second line down from the top of this paragraph]. Or, rent it at your favorite video store. After you’ve seen the movie, then do your best to actually read the entire Gospel of John, (here’s the hyperlink to the web address of the bible used for the movie if you want to read it on the internet: GNB - John), you will be amazed how much clearer the reading will be with your frame-of-reference able to recall the scenes from the movie. Do you remember the movie “The Ten Commandments?” If you’ve seen the movie; whenever you read or hear about the parting of the Red Sea, what image pops into your mind? That is how your recall will be if you read John’s Gospel after you have seen the movie. Enjoy!

If this article has sparked your interest and left you with a desire to learn more about what the Word of God says about eternal life or you wish to be a Born-Again Christian contributor in our discussions, I invite you to join this group.

End Notes and acknowledgements:

* This article is an overhaul of a previous one written in early 2008 titled: “God gives the gift of eternal life to all who believe in Jesus Christ for it. True or False?” Due to substantial additions and numerous other revisions, I felt it would be best to post it as if it were a new article.

1) The word “if” has four different uses, in this case it is a first-class conditional clause which assumes the reality of the premise: “If, and it is assumed to be true.”

2) The NU-Text omits in Me: NU-Text = These variations from the traditional text generally represent the Alexandrian or Egyptian type of text; they are found in the Critical Text published in the twenty-sixth edition of the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament (N) and in the United Bible Societies’ third edition (U), hence the acronym, “NU-Text.” [From The Nelson Study Bible, copyright 1997 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.]

3) Zane C. Hodges; KERUGMA, INC., Mesquite, TX – in his book: “Did Paul Preach Eternal Life? – Should We?” – pages: 9; 18-21, 31. This book is now available from The Grace Evangelical Society.

4) John states the purpose of this book. His purpose was to convince his readers that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah who fulfilled God’s promises to Israel. Jesus is the Son of God in the flesh. By believing these things, a person obtains eternal life (John 1:12). [From The Nelson Study Bible, page 1808, notes 20:31, copyright 1997 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.]

5) Torments: the temporary subterranean holding cell which remains the place of abode for all dead unbelievers from all eras of human history, until the great white throne judgment; after their judgment, the unbelievers will be transferred to the lake of fire (or Gehenna) (Revelation 20:15). Chafer Theological Seminary—Glossary of Terms.

6) All Bible verse hover pop-up and hyperlinks are from BibleGateway.com or Biblia.com and are all New King James Version (NKJV) or The New American Standard 95 [NASB95] unless otherwise noted at end of verse (only the first verse, John 6:47 is marked).

7) Word & phrase explanation hover pop-ups and hyperlinks are mostly taken from Chafer Theological Seminary, Chafer Seminary’s Topical Notebook – http://www.chafer-cstn.org/home.html, December 2011. Omniscience – God’s comprehension of all things. Literally means “all-knowing” and describes God’s attribute of complete and simultaneous knowledge of all things, including the actual and the possible past, present, and future events. (Deuteronomy 32:20; 1 John 3:20; 1 Peter 1:2; Isaiah 40:28; Matthew 9:4; Matthew 11:27; Matthew 24:25, 36; Luke 6:8; Luke 11:17; Luke 4:29; Luke 12:33; Luke 13:1, 3, 11; Luke 16:30; Luke 21:17; 1 Corinthians 4:5; Revelation 2:23).

8) The Gospel of John – Movie is from YouTube via a YouTube video player and may be subject to removal if the person who uploaded it makes changes, revisions or there are web address changes, etc. It is assumed that the up loaders of the movie have proper copyright permission to post it on YouTube.

9) Convicting Ministry – This is a present ministry of God the Holy Spirit, by which He causes the individual sinner to comprehend Gospel truths related to the "sin, righteousness, and judgment" of John 16:7-11. Scripture reveals that the minds of unbelievers are blinded by Satan to the light of the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:3; 2 Corinthians 4:4). The veil over the eyes of the unbeliever is removed by the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit. "Sin" refers to the unpardonable sin— "they believe not on [in] me" (John 16:9). "Righteousness" is the imputed righteousness of Christ, without which the unbeliever must rely on his own inadequate relative righteousness. "Judgment" is an allusion to the Cross of Christ, where He efficaciously (John 1:29) bore the sin of the world and wrought a judgment against "the prince of this world," Satan (John 16:11; cf. Colossians 2:14-15). The unbeliever is then convinced that it is a pardon which he cannot achieve on his own behalf, but rather, he must believe in the work of Christ, as his substitute, for eternal salvation.

The following link is an additional gospel message describing how one can receive God’s free gift of eternal life: Ticket to Heaven was written for anyone not absolutely certain about their eternal future.

This data file is the sole property of Mark W. Miller. It may not be altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety for circulation as "freeware," without charge, it may also be linked to your personal website, or email, etc. All reproduction of this data file must contain the copyright notice (i.e., Copyright 2008, 2010, 2012, 2021 by Mark W. Miller)

This article may need to be reposted at a future date with changes due to periodic

Internet address changes of links, grammar corrections or for any other reason.

God's Gift of Eternal Life Blog

Monday, June 28, 2021

Weekly Bible Study – June 28, 2021; When the LORD blesses us, HE loves to save the best for last.

Sunday, June 27, 2021

Internet Church Service – June 27, 2021; The importance of The Doctrine of Positional Truth as well as The Doctrine of Unity.

Thursday, June 24, 2021

True or False? GOD’S GIFT OF “ETERNAL LIFE” IS GIVEN INSTANTLY TO ALL WHO SIMPLY BELIEVE IN JESUS, THE CHRIST! John 6:47

About Me

Blog Archive