2nd Corinthians 1:19-20, “For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.”
What a beautiful passage of Scripture! All of God's promises to man are rooted in faith in Christ. Romans 8:32, “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” Dear friend, when you accept Jesus as your personal Savior, all the blessings of God comes “WITH HIM.” We receive the blessed promise of eternal life immediately when we get saved. Our names are preserved in Heaven, recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life. We are indwelt and sealed in an instant, by faith alone in the only begotten Son of God. John 3:36, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
1st John 5:20, “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.” We don't earn eternal life, God gives it to us freely by faith alone in His Son. All of God's promises center around Christ. No unsaved person has any right to claim the promises of God.
I get tired of hearing bad preachers teach the heresy of Zionism. What is Zionism? This is the false teaching that unsaved Jews are still blessed by God, and that believers who give money and support to heathen present-day Israel will be blessed by God for doing so. That is unbiblical. Luke 21:24, “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” As you just read, Jerusalem has NO promise of divine protection today. Israel could be nuked by Russia tomorrow, and it would not violate Bible prophecy.
God's blessings have ALWAYS followed a line of faith from the beginning of human civilization. God has NEVER blessed Christ-rejecting Jews or Gentiles. God is no respecter of persons! In the Old Testament, we see that God blessed Jacob for his faith, but not carnal Esau. God raised up pagan nations to judge His people when they disobeyed. There was never a time when God blessed wicked unbelieving Jews (Exodus 19:5-6). Likewise today, God will not bless wicked Jews or Gentiles. God only saves those who believe on His Son (John 3:18).
Galatians 3:26-29, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Carefully notice that ONLY those Jews and Gentiles who believe in Jesus Christ are of Abraham's seed, and heirs according to THE PROMISE. Here we see our text verse from 2nd Corinthians 1:20 explained. 2nd Corinthians 1:20, “For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.” All of God's promises are only applicable to Abraham's spiritual seed, to those who have faith in Jesus Christ. Have you been born-again dear reader? There are billions of religious people in this world, hundreds of millions of which live the Christian life, but have never been born anew by the Holy Spirit of God.
What does the Bible mean by being “born again”? John 3:7, “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” Evangelist Ray Comfort gets it horrible wrong, who says being born again refers to a radical change in one's behavior. On page 1529, under the commentary section, “How Can You Know That You Are Saved?,” 'The Evidence Bible' states:
May I say, being born again is NOT an “experience.” Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron wrongly understand being “born-again” as an EXPERIENCE that involves forsaking one's sinful lifestyle and “EMBRACING” Jesus Christ. Ray Comfort gets this idea from an errant understanding of James 2:19, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” Many foolish Bible teachers misinterpret James 2:19 to mean that simple BELIEF on Christ is insufficient to be saved. This is not what the Bible is saying here. It simply means that no one is going to Heaven just because they believe there is a God.Christians believed in God's existence before their conversion, however, when they obeyed the Word of God, turned from their sins, and embraced Jesus Christ, they stopped merely believing. The moment they reached out and touched the heater bar of God's mercy, they moved out of belief into the realm of experience. This experience is so radical, Jesus referred to it as being born again. [emphasis added] SOURCE: The Way of the Master Evidence Bible, by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron, page 1529; ©2003 by Bridge-Logos Publishers.
This is why Jesus told His disciples in Luke 13:23-24, “Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” You can believe in God all you want—you can serve Him, go to church, tithe, sacrifice and do good all your life, and then go straight to the Lake of Fire forever to burn!!! Jesus said, “Ye must be born again” (John 3:7).
What did Jesus mean by “born again?” The question is answered in John 3:6, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” When you were born the first time into the world, that was of the flesh; but the new birth (or second birth) is when the Holy Spirit of God comes inside your body to indwell you (upon your faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ). Being “born again”? means that you have been born into God's family! Whereas all men are born spiritually DEAD from birth (Romans 5:15), in order to enter into the Kingdom of God a person must be born for the second time, spiritually (John 3:6-7). The first birth is PHYSICAL, earthly; The second birth is SPIRITUAL, by the Holy Spirit of God (John 1:12-14).
Biblically, mere childlike BELIEVING is all that God requires to be saved. This is what Jesus said in John 6:28-29, “Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”
In Mr. Comfort's thinking, being born again means moving from the realm of merely believing in God, to the realm of leaving one's sinful ways and clinging to Christ. Mr. Comfort recognizes this as an EXPERIENCE, which to him means being born-again.
The Word of God teaches something entirely different. A person is “born again” by the Holy Spirit of God, which is initiated by mere childlike belief in Christ's death on the cross for our sins, His burial and resurrection three days later. The Bible defines this as the “Gospel” in 1st Corinthians 15:1-4. Whereas 'The Evidence Bible' teaches that a transforming “radical experience” is what it means to be born-again, the Holy Bible teaches that it is the transforming power of God's Holy Spirit that produces the new birth . . .
John 1:12-13, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
Ray Comfort understands salvation backwards. He requires a person to commit to leave their sinful lifestyle, and embrace Christ, which is the “radical experience” he requires from people to be saved. Biblically, you don't have to embrace Christ to be saved, you simply need to believe on Him. That's what the Bible teaches. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Although a person may or may not express emotions at the time of salvation, emotions are not required for salvation. Neither tears, nor any outward manifestation of inner changes, nor a desire to serve God, nor forsake sins, nor any radical experience is necessary to receive the free gift of eternal life. IT IS A GIFT, and a “gift” is free in every sense. For a wonderful presentation of the simple plan of salvation by Pastor Hank Lindstrom (1940-2008), please see Get God's Gift.
Furthermore, forsaking one's sinful lifestyle is NOT what it means Biblically to “repent.” Repentance is “changing one's mind,” that is, realizing and acknowledging one's guilt of sin for breaking a holy God's commandments (Romans 3:19). The only thing you need to repent of to be saved is whatever has been hindering you from coming to Christ to be saved (Hebrews 6:1). The man who BELIEVES the Gospel has repented, otherwise he never would have come to Jesus Christ to be saved (John 3:20). Our part in salvation is simply to BELIEVE on Jesus Christ, and whatever else is a part of our salvation is solely God's department, and you can be assured He will attend to that.
When a group of religious people appeared before Christ in Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus denied knowing them as His sheep! They were bewildered. They boasted in defense of themselves that they had done “many wonderful works” in Jesus' name. They had “prophesied” (preached) in Jesus' name. They had followed Him as “Lord.” But Jesus denied knowing them!!! Dear friend, will that be your fate someday? It will if you follow the Satanic teachings of Bob Jones University, who preach another gospel of Lordship Salvation. Right doctrine matters! Words matter to God. These horrible Bible colleges today, and the corrupt churches that support them, don't care about the purity of God's Word, nor the accuracy of the Gospel, nor the true meaning of repentance, nor do they care about how they treat people. Search the internet for abuse in the Bob Jones University camp and you'll see what I mean. I digress.
All of God's promises are fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Apart from faith in Christ NO ONE can enter into the Kingdom of God. Satan's greatest weapon is to con people into living the Christian life without ever being born-again. YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN!!! Once you become a child of God, you are now a card carrying member of Heaven's family. You are included! You are known by the angels and the saints in Heaven. Jesus is precious!!!
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