Greg, I have every confidence, based on God's Word, that all who belong to the Lord will be saved as we are eternally secure in Him. Ephesians is one letter that fills the believer with such joy & assurance to his position IN CHRIST.
I think of Eph 2:5,6:"Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved); And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus". This is NOW - not in the future.
All of Ephesians chapter 1.
Eph 3:11,12: "According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him."
These are all portions (& many more) to remind us that our full salvation (in our redemption, position in Christ both now & after our departure from this Earth) are already accomplished for us in God's eternal Plan. This is that "sure hope" that fades not away - this is that confidence in Him that He is True & is faithful to the Promises He has given us. Our faith just takes hold of Him in simplicity & trust that He will do all that He has declared.
We should not be in wonder or doubt: our position IN CHRIST now, doesn't, yea cannot alter through to eternity: one could say, that for the believer, our eternity has already commenced, except we still walk by faith until that coming day when we shall see Him face to Face & proclaim the story: "we are here Lord, Saved by Grace, only by Your Grace".
The Lord be with your spirit Greg, & make your joy & confidence full & ever present.
I try to always make it a point to use Scripture to back up Scripture (as you do); otherwise, I don't have much to say.
I use the parable of the rich man and Lazarus to justify that our bodies return to dust, and our "spirit returns to God Who gave it" ( Ecclesiastes 12:7).
I am hoping and praying that I am on the right side of the gulf waiting with Abraham and Lazarus and the others that have made it ( Luke 16:26).
Greg, from what is revealed to us in Scripture about the rich man & Lazarus as well as what we understand about death & the destiny of the spirit, I have to understand that upon their death, their physical bodies remained in the grave & what Jesus described was their spirits (whether embodied by another substance or not), were present & active in Hades. I understand that their bodies are still in the grave (or, entombed) awaiting the general resurrection.
Mt 27:52,53: I understand speaks of a limited resurrection (of the saints) which pertained to the signs given when our Saviour died & then arose from His grave. We're not told what happened to 'those saints', whether transported into Heaven at Christ's Ascension or lived for a while again till their 'second' death. Maybe, in a similar way to the other Lazarus, Jesus' friend & Mary & Martha's brother, who was raised back to life & then died a second time.
So, in respect to the 'self acclaimed prophets of the religions': I specifically targeted them as those who claim that they brought God's message & subsequently received a great following of people, yet their bodies were no more different to ours, suffering the same fate in death, their bodies still lie in the grave & their spirits departing & awaiting the same fate in judgement. Therefore, to your: "When you say "their bodies lie in the grave" do you believe that only Jesus is in heaven", I understand, post Ascension, no physical body from the Earth is presently in Heaven or Hell, but their spirits are in that place appointed to them awaiting reward or final judgement. As well, I don't subscribe to 'soul sleep'. How do you see it?
See you there, hapily, gratefully, smiling and crying (for joy) at the same time. His church, his bride, New Jerursalem, we who wait for him, love him, receive his words and obey them. We have little time left here so Lord, teach us to number our days and apply our hearts to wisdom. Hold that fast til he comes and keep praying to escape all the things that are coming upon this world and be found by him living in joy. But how, with the terrors and hatred that will be coming at all of us from everyone, everywhere as these very last days are here. I'm still trying to love my enemies that pursue and make prey out of me, but my natural reaction is to hate them. Stephen and Jesus are our examples, love and pray for those who persecute you. God will perfect that which concerns us. Be strong. See you there. Love you.
Amen indeed. You've shared Great Truths of our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ Who also said, "because I live, ye shall live also." Jn 14:19. The fact that He gave His Life for us all by His death & then rose to resurrection Life for our justification, gave the full meaning to what He said to the people, how He lived His Life before the people, & His willingness to lay it down for each of them & us. No other self acclaimed prophet of the religions of the world has done or could ever do what Jesus has done: their bodies remain in the grave - the Lord Jesus arose & is the Lord of Glory ever living to make intercession for us.
Who is God? He is the all MIGHTY Creator of our entire universe. We as humans seem to forget He is always around us. We seem to be in our world. Me Myself and I. Easy to anger- easy to Judge others. But do you ever take the time to ask God what He wants of us? Do we ever turn around to the less fortunate and ask them what they need? The churches think they are so all mighty. But l have watched the cold hearts toward the needy. Jesus was always around for anyone that needed him. Was there anyone around to show their Love before the cross? What about now. What are we to become in these days of evilness and control? Our children...our God. Will we with stand all the pain for the All Mighty and fight. He is Our strength...our protection.. So are we going to
deny Him when troubles come full force... Think people...think!!! Bless the Lord...Dont run away!!!
Onyekachukwu Ogechi Levinus Alaka on John 6:38 - 3 years ago
Jesus gave a detailed discourse about the Bread of Life to the same multitude who had just partaken of the five barley loaves and two small fishes. Throughout His ministry, Jesus was teaching the people that He had been sent from God to carry out the will of the Father. He taught that He alone is able to satisfy the hungry soul and provide for our bodily needs. He was proclaiming to be the promised Messiah, Who had come in fulfilment of Scripture. Jesus wanted to show... that just as He was able to heal all their sicknesses and provide for their physical needs, He is also the One Who could heal the broken soul, release them from the slave-market of sin, bind up their emotional distresses, bring inner peace and joy to their heart. Jesus alone is the One that can supply the spiritual food, every one of us so desperately needs. Jesus often used the natural to illustrate a spiritual truth, and the feeding of their bodies with food, was used as a demonstration of what He could do for them in the spiritual realm. Jesus referred to Himself as 'the Bread of Life' to emphasise the lesson He wanted them to learn. 'I am the bread of life", He told them. "No one who comes to Me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in Me will ever thirst again.
Jesus told this crowd the truth, when He called Himself 'the Bread of Life'.. for in Him was Life. In Him was Life everlasting. He was the Giver of Life, and He is the Sustainer of Life. When He referred to Himself as 'the Bread of Life', He was meaning spiritual Life - eternal Life. He came to bring hope for the lost, joy for the sorrowing, strength for the weak and encouragement for the downhearted. And He came to supply spiritual food for the hungry soul. Jesus came down to earth from heaven, to breathe new life into those who were dead in their sin and estranged from God.
The Lord Jesus did not simply come to sustain their physical life but to give eternal life, and this was the vital message. And so be it.
Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you NOT that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you THE TRUE BREAD from heaven.
For the bread of God is HE which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
For now, this is why we celebrate Communion together, in remembrance of Jesus: at the Lords Supper.
A lot of people do not think it's proper to observe The Lords Supper at home. Alone or with family and friends. I don't agree.
The disciples rented the room, for the night of the Lords Supper. It wasn't a church.
If the Government closes our churches: we can still meet together other ways. If we've been in church all of lives, we know the seriousness of this celebration.
First we must forgive EVERYONE who has wronged us. If we partake without doing that, we bring condemnation on ourselves.
If we don't forgive others, that's why it feels like God is not listening to our prayers. It's a serious thing: unforgiveness. It's hard to remember all the faces who angered us.
You can ask the Holy Spirit to call those faces to your remembrance.
The act of forgiving those who don't even deserve it... is one of the most freeing spiritual moments a Christian can experience with God, our Father; Jesus our Savior.
The people we hold captive in our hearts and minds are the door that Satan uses to approach the Throne of God to accuse us.
Just say " I forgive you" over and over, until it takes root in your heart. God wants us to be free to worship in purity; heart, soul and mind. Pray about this.
People did not understand Jesus Christ 's teachings when He said eat my flesh and drink my blood. Thanks to Peter by saying to you there's a word. Peter realized that Jesus Christ is the Word according to the book of John. The Word which was there in the beginning.. The word which create everything that was created. You eat His flesh you will have life in abandoned. Prays the Lord lm really touched.
My actions? When looking at John 6:53-58, I understand that Jesus is speaking to those who want to belong to Him. And so He uses the imagery of "eating His Flesh & drinking His Blood" signifying that to belong to Him, we must partake of His Life. When we do, we receive new life (v 53), eternal life (v 54), we dwell in Him & He in us (v 56 & Jn 14:23) & our life is by (through) Him (v 57).
RCs believe that we must actually eat Christ's flesh & blood = transubstantiation, (which they say, that the emblems mysteriously turn into) so as to partake in Jesus' Life. But in fact, Jesus spoke metaphorically, showing how that this intense & personal relationship with Him can be adequately viewed as partaking of His Person & enjoyment of His Being. And when we meet around the Lord's Table, we remember His death for us by taking of the emblems (symbols) of His broken Body & shed Blood (v 51) & this in turn speaks to us not only of His Sacrifice but also of our deep relationship we now enjoy 'in Christ'.
If you have been instructed saying "Go now and eat the flesh of the son of man and drink also his blood that you may have life in you" beloved what actions must you do?
Matthew 9:6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.
It is my prayer that all people will yield to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. God know the thoughts and intents of our hearts. Nothing is hid from Him and so many have their minds blinded by incorrect perceptions about who God is! God is Love. If we search for Him with all our heart and not for a doctrine to satisfy our own will, we will find HIM, the lover of our soul!
Followers of Christ, will always hear thing that we agree with and we will hear things that we don't agree with. If you believe in the Lord don't doubt, ask god.Every that we claim we are in Christ we have to accept as the truth. The truth is every word that preceded out of the mouth of god.
Sorry, Alex, but that is rank heresy. Jesus' words did not make them gods, that's similar to Mormonism or the Faith heresy's "little gods" theory and there is not one ounce of scriptural support for this. Not one. Jesus is the second person of the Trinity, the Son, the incarnation who through his life of perfect obedience obtained the merit we couldn't, and through his death and suffering took the punishment we deserve. Jesus obtained our SALVATION, not DEIFICATION. Eph 2:8-9, John 3:16-18, Romans 3. Grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
Jesus is the life of bread because He is not Manna also a Mediator absolute of God and absolute of Man and representative of Heaven and Earth He is a PACKAGE for our life.
Jesus said my Words are SPIRIT AND LIFE and we see that so clearly when the H.G fell on them that heard his Word, thus his WORDS are the seeds of God,to whom his WORDS came it made them GODS. And the scriptures cannot be broken.God is spirit and life.He is able to propagate very GOD WITH HIS SEEDS HIS WORDS To whom HIS word came it made them Gods. The original PROMISE WAS MULTIPLCATION OF GOD
John 6:70 Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? This devil is a person, who steals and who will betray the Lord Jesus Christ.
I think of Eph 2:5,6:"Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved); And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus". This is NOW - not in the future.
All of Ephesians chapter 1.
Eph 3:11,12: "According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him."
These are all portions (& many more) to remind us that our full salvation (in our redemption, position in Christ both now & after our departure from this Earth) are already accomplished for us in God's eternal Plan. This is that "sure hope" that fades not away - this is that confidence in Him that He is True & is faithful to the Promises He has given us. Our faith just takes hold of Him in simplicity & trust that He will do all that He has declared.
We should not be in wonder or doubt: our position IN CHRIST now, doesn't, yea cannot alter through to eternity: one could say, that for the believer, our eternity has already commenced, except we still walk by faith until that coming day when we shall see Him face to Face & proclaim the story: "we are here Lord, Saved by Grace, only by Your Grace".
The Lord be with your spirit Greg, & make your joy & confidence full & ever present.
Concerning "where do our souls go after we die."
I see it basically the same way you do.
I try to always make it a point to use Scripture to back up Scripture (as you do); otherwise, I don't have much to say.
I use the parable of the rich man and Lazarus to justify that our bodies return to dust, and our "spirit returns to God Who gave it" ( Ecclesiastes 12:7).
I am hoping and praying that I am on the right side of the gulf waiting with Abraham and Lazarus and the others that have made it ( Luke 16:26).
Mt 27:52,53: I understand speaks of a limited resurrection (of the saints) which pertained to the signs given when our Saviour died & then arose from His grave. We're not told what happened to 'those saints', whether transported into Heaven at Christ's Ascension or lived for a while again till their 'second' death. Maybe, in a similar way to the other Lazarus, Jesus' friend & Mary & Martha's brother, who was raised back to life & then died a second time.
So, in respect to the 'self acclaimed prophets of the religions': I specifically targeted them as those who claim that they brought God's message & subsequently received a great following of people, yet their bodies were no more different to ours, suffering the same fate in death, their bodies still lie in the grave & their spirits departing & awaiting the same fate in judgement. Therefore, to your: "When you say "their bodies lie in the grave" do you believe that only Jesus is in heaven", I understand, post Ascension, no physical body from the Earth is presently in Heaven or Hell, but their spirits are in that place appointed to them awaiting reward or final judgement. As well, I don't subscribe to 'soul sleep'. How do you see it?
When you say "their bodies lie in the grave" do you believe that only Jesus is in heaven.
If that is true, how do we understand what happened with the rich man and Lazarus?
deny Him when troubles come full force... Think people...think!!! Bless the Lord...Dont run away!!!
Jesus told this crowd the truth, when He called Himself 'the Bread of Life'.. for in Him was Life. In Him was Life everlasting. He was the Giver of Life, and He is the Sustainer of Life. When He referred to Himself as 'the Bread of Life', He was meaning spiritual Life - eternal Life. He came to bring hope for the lost, joy for the sorrowing, strength for the weak and encouragement for the downhearted. And He came to supply spiritual food for the hungry soul. Jesus came down to earth from heaven, to breathe new life into those who were dead in their sin and estranged from God.
The Lord Jesus did not simply come to sustain their physical life but to give eternal life, and this was the vital message. And so be it.
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you NOT that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you THE TRUE BREAD from heaven.
For the bread of God is HE which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
For now, this is why we celebrate Communion together, in remembrance of Jesus: at the Lords Supper.
A lot of people do not think it's proper to observe The Lords Supper at home. Alone or with family and friends. I don't agree.
The disciples rented the room, for the night of the Lords Supper. It wasn't a church.
If the Government closes our churches: we can still meet together other ways. If we've been in church all of lives, we know the seriousness of this celebration.
First we must forgive EVERYONE who has wronged us. If we partake without doing that, we bring condemnation on ourselves.
If we don't forgive others, that's why it feels like God is not listening to our prayers. It's a serious thing: unforgiveness. It's hard to remember all the faces who angered us.
You can ask the Holy Spirit to call those faces to your remembrance.
The act of forgiving those who don't even deserve it... is one of the most freeing spiritual moments a Christian can experience with God, our Father; Jesus our Savior.
The people we hold captive in our hearts and minds are the door that Satan uses to approach the Throne of God to accuse us.
Just say " I forgive you" over and over, until it takes root in your heart. God wants us to be free to worship in purity; heart, soul and mind. Pray about this.
RCs believe that we must actually eat Christ's flesh & blood = transubstantiation, (which they say, that the emblems mysteriously turn into) so as to partake in Jesus' Life. But in fact, Jesus spoke metaphorically, showing how that this intense & personal relationship with Him can be adequately viewed as partaking of His Person & enjoyment of His Being. And when we meet around the Lord's Table, we remember His death for us by taking of the emblems (symbols) of His broken Body & shed Blood (v 51) & this in turn speaks to us not only of His Sacrifice but also of our deep relationship we now enjoy 'in Christ'.
Eternal-Life through HIM.