Salvation or condemnation?

People choose to identify themselves by what they believe gives them power or clout, whether it is religiously, politically, their lifestyle or their race.

I choose to be identified only as a child of God.

In reality, we are all passing through this thing we call life, and it will soon be over for us all, eternity waits whether we believe in Christ as our LORD and Savior or not, for God's children we get to be with Him, where there will be no more tears, no fear, no pain or sorrow, there will be peace for evermore, for God's deniers they get to be without Him in eternal torment, darkness, tears, fear, bitterness.

Either way we choose where to go, why would anyone choose to deny Christ, is what I really want to know.

Christ did not come to us to condemn us, He came to us to save us, and make a way for us to God the Father, He bore our punishment so we would not go to hell!

God's word says this:

“For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and avoids it, so that his deeds may not be exposed. But anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God.”John 3:16-21 CSB

““Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if not, I would have told you. I am going away to prepare a place for you. If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also. You know the way to where I am going.” “Lord,” Thomas said, “we don’t know where you’re going. How can we know the way?” Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”John 14:1-7 CSB

”Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away. Then the one seated on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.” Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give to the thirsty from the spring of the water of life. The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be my son. But the cowards, faithless, detestable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars — their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.””

Revelation 21:3-8 CSB

The chains that bind us

Mankind is held in bondage by 3 things, sin, sorrow and death.

Jesus is the only key for freedom from this bondage.

He became sin for me!

He is the man of sorrows!

He holds the keys to death and hades!

Are you bound by sin today? Confess it to Christ, admit your a sinner; (we all are ) admit you need Him, ask Him to save you from your sin and separation from God the Father.

Are you bound by sorrow of past or present mistakes? Is your soul sorrowful because of others? Then call upon the name of Jesus ask for His peace, ask for forgiveness if need be,and Christ will set you free from the bondage of condemnation, He bore our sorrows and sin on the cross and took our punishment, 

Are you fearful of death? Or are you dying? We all will pass away from this life, unless the Lord comes first to take us home, but we need not fear death as a child of God death will only take us into His presence, Christ has overcome the grave and He is in you and you are in Him and He is over death and the grave.

God's word says;

“Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6 NLT

“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf: “Be reconciled to God.” He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

2 Corinthians 5:20-21 CSB

“He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”

Isaiah 53:3-5 NKJV

“When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid. I am the First and the Last, and the Living One. I was dead, but look — I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death and Hades.” Revelation 1:17-18 CSB

“I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children. “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.””

Revelation 21:3-8 NLT

Are you trying to outrun God?

We can run from God, but this side of eternity we will never out run His grace, we can try and hide  from God but we will never escape His face, 

for the sinner God gives grace as He patiently waits for them to repent, for the saint God gives grace as He patiently waits for us to learn and walk with Him at His pace.

Our very existence proves God's grace, His love patience and mercy are in each breath He gives us, each one an opportunity to accept His gifts of salvation, mercy and grace, or to continue to walk in our ways and deny Him to His face.

This life soon shall pass and those who receive what God offers will have all that God has chosen to give, His all for eternity, those who reject what God offers will have what they chose for eternity, the absence of God where there will be outer darkness, torment, and gnashing of teeth.

Don't waste another breath, call upon the name of Jesus. Jesus have mercy on me a sinner, forgive me of my sins, cleanse me and make me whole, I need you to be my Lord and Savior, I believe you are the Son of God, you paid the price for my sins and I ask for forgiveness, mercy and grace and your help forever more.

If you're already saved but not walking with God, repent and turn from your ways, ask Christ to lead you in His everlasting way and walk in His grace and mercy.

Find a Bible Believing and Teaching Assembly that stands on the authority of God's word and start to grow in His grace and knowledge every day. 

God's word says this:

“Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him. He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One. In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he richly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding. He made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he purposed in Christ as a plan for the right time — to bring everything together in Christ, both things in heaven and things on earth in him. In him, we have also received an inheritance, because we were predestined according to the plan of the one who works out everything in agreement with the purpose of his will  so that we who had already put our hope in Christ might bring praise to his glory. In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed. The Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of the possession, to the praise of his glory. This is why, since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the mighty working of his strength. He exercised this power in Christ by raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens — far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he subjected everything under his feet and appointed him as head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.”

Ephesians 1:3-23 CSB

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! He also raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavens in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might display the immeasurable riches of his grace through his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift — not from works, so that no one can boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.”

Ephesians 2:4-10 CSB

“For this reason I kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us — to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Ephesians 3:14-21 CSB

Are we duty bound or fully devoted to God?

As Christians we struggle with our works, am i doing enough, am I doing it right? If we become disciplined in the things of God we say I need to do these things, if we are bound by our duty we say we should do these things, but it is only when we are devoted to Christ that we finally understand and say I want to do these things and serve you Lord in all I do.

God doesn’t need us to be disciplined or duty bound in our walk with Him, no God does not want either of those, God looks at our hearts and when we become devoted to God our hearts say I want to walk with Him, God wants our devotion, when we become devoted to God in all we do, we become disciplined in the things of God and God works through an obedient heart.

Don’t let the enemy deceive you into a disciplined filled life, or a duty bound life, without a devoted life to Him, let the Holy Spirit lead you into a fully devoted life to Christ, see what God can do where we stop and He begins.

I think of the Apostle Paul, when he was bound by discipline and duty he went about killing christians and trying to destroy the church, but when he met Christ, he surrendered to Him,became fully devoted to Him and through him, Christ took the gospel message all the way to you and I today.

God has changed the world with men and women who are fully devoted to Him.

God’s word says this;

“May all the peoples of the earth know that the Lord is God. There is no other! Be wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord our God to walk in his statutes and to keep his commands, as it is today.””

1 Kings 8:60-61 CSB

“Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a grievance against another. Just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you are also to forgive. Above all, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

Colossians 3:12-17 CSB

“For we know that if our earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens, not made with hands. Indeed, we groan in this tent, desiring to put on our heavenly dwelling, since, when we have taken it off, we will not be found naked. Indeed, we groan while we are in this tent, burdened as we are, because we do not want to be unclothed but clothed, so that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment. So we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. In fact, we are confident, and we would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. Therefore, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing to him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, since we know the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade people. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your consciences. We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, so that you may have a reply for those who take pride in outward appearance rather than in the heart. For if we are out of our mind, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ compels us, since we have reached this conclusion: If one died for all, then all died. And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised.” “From now on, then, we do not know anyone from a worldly perspective. Even if we have known Christ from a worldly perspective, yet now we no longer know him in this way. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf: “Be reconciled to God.” He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

2 Corinthians 5:1-21 CSB