A Christian's Possessions
in Christ
Some people think that because they live good lives and
go to church every week they will be accepted by God, but this is false.
We can wash our hands, but this does not make us clean on the inside.
The Lord Jesus spoke against the religious people of His
time who thought they would be accepted by God because they belonged to
a respectable church and observed all they were told to do;
Gal 2:16
�a man is not justified
by works of the Law, but through faith in Jesus Christ; even we
believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith in
Christ, and not by works of the Law. For all flesh will not be justified
by works of law
These people looked well and clean on the outside but
inside they did not believe in the Son of God. Each of us must believe
in the Son of God; that he died for our sin and sins. We are not saved
because we belong to, or regularly attend, a church.
Doing good things does not avoid God�s righteous
punishment for our sin and sins. God wants faith first, not external
actions;
Heb 11:6
� without faith it is
impossible to please Him, �
Each of us is born with sin within, and the sin within
brings death. We all need to be saved from sin and the death it brings.
The Bible is very clear;
Rom 6:23
.. the wages of sin
is death,
Sin is like a terrible disease which passes down to us
all from Adam. Sin is the inner root which produces the fruit and the
fruit is called sins. Sin brings forth sins. Some people commit terrible
sins, some people commit little sins, but the fact remains we all have
sin within us which causes us to think and do bad things.
Our God will not tolerate the sin within us and the sins
we do. We need to be saved from the root cause and the fruit results.
Praise God! He provided the only remedy.
God sent His only begotten Son to pay the penalty for
both the root and the fruit. Our Saviour, Christ Jesus, died and saved
us from our sin and our sins. Look at these verses and carefully note
what each one says;
Joh 1:29
The next day John sees
Jesus coming to him and says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the
sin of the world!
2Co 5:21
For He has made Him who
knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become
the righteousness of God in Him.
1Pe 3:18
For Christ also once
suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring
us to God,�.
1Co 15:3
For I delivered unto
you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for
our sins according to the scriptures;
The Bible tells us very clearly that our Lord died for
our sin and our sins. When we believed in The Lord Jesus, these problems
for us, were resolved and we have been set free;
Rom
6:6
knowing this, that our old man
is crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might
be destroyed, that from now on we should not serve sin.
Eph 1:7
In whom (Christ) we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of
his grace;
When Christ died Paul says sin, or �our old man�, also
died with Him. God dealt with this inner evil at the cross. We will
continue to struggle as we think bad things, but we can now choose not
to obey this inner evil. We do not have to serve sin any more. We can
now serve God and do those good things we really want to do.
But there is something more. All our sins have been
forgiven. Ephesians 1:7 does not say we might have forgiveness if we
keep confessing our sins every week. It does not say we can loose our
eternal life if we do wrong things, it says we have forgiveness of sins.
If God says we are forgiven, then let us believe that we are forgiven.
Christians will never suffer for their sin and sins. Our Lord Christ
suffered for our sin and sins and if you believe in Him, you are saved
from both of these problems.
This does not mean we are free to do as we please.
Because we have forgiveness of sins does not mean we can continue
sinning. We must live to please God;
Gal 5:13
For, brothers, you were
called to liberty. Only do not use the liberty for an
opening to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
But there is something more. When we believed in the Lord
Jesus, God gave us a free gift. This free gift is eternal life. What God
has given us God does not take away. We have this gift of eternal life
because our sin and sins have been dealt with. Sin has been destroyed
and all our sins have been forgiven. We can never loose God�s gift of
eternal life, it is ours in Christ.
Joh 3:16
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.
Joh 3:36
He who believes on the
Son has everlasting life,
The Roman�s verse we used earlier can now be given
completely and it says this:
Rom
6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of
God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
But there is something more. When we believed in the Lord
Jesus we were sealed unto the day of redemption. We were sealed by the
Holy Spirit of promise who is the pledge or guarantee. Something sealed
is very safe, and we are safe because God has sealed us. God�s seal can
not be broken by us. We were not sealed until we commit sins; we are
sealed unto the day of redemption. This looks on to the great and
wonderful day when God will take us the place He has promised us.
Eph 1:13
in whom (Christ)
also you, hearing the Word of Truth, the gospel of our salvation, in
whom also believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14
who is the earnest of
our inheritance, to the redemption of the purchased possession, to the
praise of His glory.
But there is something more. Our saviour, the Lord Jesus
Christ, has presented us holy and without blame and without charge in
God�s sight. The word �holy� in the verse below means �a most holy
thing� or �a saint�. Only God makes His children saints and all of us
who have believed in Christ are saints. We have been presented to God as
saints by Christ. Paul tells us this very clearly;
Col 1:21
And you, who were once alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked
works, yet now He has reconciled
Col 1:22
in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and without
blemish, and without charge in His sight
No one is a saint because they live an exceptional life.
God tells us that our Lord Christ has presented us �holy�, that is, as a
saint. In Christ we are �without blame� and �without charge� in God�s
sight. All of us are saints. If Christ has presented us as saints, how
can we who have believed in Christ ever be sent to hell?
But there is something more. God has made us worthy to
inherit the wonderful place He has prepared for us;
Col 1:12
�.the Father,.. has made us meet (worthy) to
be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.
Notice, God has made us worthy. No church, no priest, no
religion or any good works we do will ever make us worthy of our
inheritance. We have already been made worthy by God through Christ. If
God has made us worthy for the future, how can we be sent to hell? God
does not want us to live in fear.
Those hypocrites in the Lord�s time thought they could do
things to be right with God. But our good works can never save us and
they can not keep us saved. God has done it all for us through Christ.
After we believed in the Lord Jesus, we do good things as Christians to
please our God who has saved us and made us worthy.
The wonderful salvation which God has provided is not
based upon what we do. It is given to us because we have faith. We
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour and because we believe
in Him all these things are ours now, praise God.
God has dealt with the sin inside of us through Christ
our Lord and we have passed from death into life.
God has forgiven us all our sins because Christ died for
our sins.
All our sins have been forgiven; our past sins, our present sins and our
future sins. We have forgiveness of sins.
God has given us His gift of eternal life. This is a
promise from God who cannot lie. Our eternal life can never be lost or
taken away.
The Holy Spirit has sealed us in Christ. We are safe and
secure until the day God takes us to our inheritance.
Christ our Lord has presented us as spotless saints to
God. This has been done by Christ.
God has made us worthy for the future inheritance He has
prepared for us. We will be there one day when God decides.
Since we have these promises from God in His Word, how is
it some teach that Christians can go to hell? What is hell anyway?
Very few churches teach that there are three different
words in the original New Testament manuscripts which have been
translated as �hell�. Here are those three original words and their
definitions;
-
�Gehenna�. This is a valley on the earth, not some
place under the earth. Matt. 5:22, 29, 30
-
�Hades�. This is the grave, a place of burial.
1Cor.15:55 (grave), Rev.20:14.
-
�Tartaroo�. This is a place where fallen angels are
kept until judgment. 2Peter2:4
The word purgatory does not exist in the Bible commonly
used among Christians. The Bible tells us very clearly what happens when
we die and we do not go to purgatory.
There is no hell under the earth where flames of fire are
currently tormenting those who have not believed in Christ. So what is
the �hell� the Lord Jesus spoke about?
When the Saviour was talking to the children of Israel
(Romans 15:8) he warned them about �hell� and he was referring to
Gehenna. Gehenna is the Greek word in the manuscripts which is
translated as hell.
This hell or Gehenna, is a
valley near Jerusalem. It is the valley of Hinnom. You can go and visit
this valley today; it is visible, on the top of the earth and located in
Israel.
When the Lord returns to reign on the earth in the
future, this valley will be a fiery garbage dump. Those who sin against
the Lord, at that future time, will loose their life and their dead
bodies will be thrown into �hell� or Gehenna.
Isa 66:23
And it will be, from one new moon to another,
and from one sabbath to another, all flesh will come to worship before
Me, says Jehovah.
Isa 66:24
And they will go out and
see the dead bodies of the men who have sinned against Me; for their
worm will not die, nor will their fire be put out; and they will be an
object of disgust to all flesh.
Most Christians are taught that hell is some fiery place
under the earth, this is not true. The �hell� the Lord spoke about is a
valley in Israel. The Lord�s teaching about this hell was restricted to
the nation of Israel.
Not one Christian is thrown into �hell� after they die.
If you have believed in the Lord Jesus you will never be thrown into
�hell� no matter what sins you may do. All of us will be resurrected to
judgment. We may loose our reward on judgment day, but we have God�s
promised gift of eternal life.
Paul tells us to give thanks to God for very special
reasons:
Col 1:12
giving thanks to the Father, who has made us meet to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in light.
Col 1:13
For He has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us
into the kingdom of His dear Son;
Col 1:14
in whom we have redemption through His blood, the remission of sins.
The salvation our God has provided for us through His Son
is rich and free. It is ours because we have faith in our Lord Christ.
Eph 2:8
For by grace you are
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God,
Eph 2:9
not of works,
lest anyone should boast.
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