"You loser!" How many of us have had those words thrown our way? How many of us have used those words to slice and dice someone else? They are hurtful, angry words. Yet, in the biblical framework regarding sin, there is a context in which those words are valuable.
Scripture presents only two groups of people in this world - those outside of Christ and those who are in Christ. Scripture tells us that we are born sinners. We start life apart from God due to the sin of the first man, Adam. And as we go about our daily business, all of us continue to sin. That sin separates us from God, and He says that the soul who sins is the one who will die, with death in the Bible portrayed as separation from God. This separation places us in the losing camp, eternally speaking. However, the Bible also tells us that while we were sinners and enemies of God, Christ came and died for us. Christ came and reconciled us to God by His death. He sacrificed His life, and His blood shed at Calvary - applied to one human soul at a time - is the only way anyone moves onto the winning team. When we believe the gospel, the Good News about Christ's death, burial and resurrection, we are moved from death (the losing eternal camp) to life (the winning eternal camp).
That happens when we hear the word of truth - words about Christ - and receive the word of truth. We make it our own gospel of salvation by placing our faith in Jesus Christ as the only One who can make us right with God. Jesus says it is the only way!
Sometimes, it's hard to see what is right or wrong in life, while at other times, it's easy. As I drove into the IDEAL School parking lot in Nokomis, Florida (1/86), I noticed Harold Hill standing on the front steps peering skyward. When I got out of my truck, he said, "Something's not right there, boy." I looked upward and noticed a zigzag trail of smoke high in the sky. The plume should have been straight as an arrow, but it was broken and no longer ascending. NASA had just launched the Space Shuttle Challenger, and things were not right. An explosion, 73 seconds after liftoff, destroyed the vehicle and killed the crew. The cause, determined later, was faulty O-rings in the right solid rocket booster. The seals, which hardened in the cold weather that day, ruptured, and the craft and crew were lost.
As humans, we have a hard time believing we're lost (not right with God), yet His words of truth tell us so. Our cold hearts, incapable of believing, lead us away from God, and our lives spiral downward. However, when we believe, we are made right and marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit. And God, who cannot lie, promises that His seal will never fail. The Holy Spirit will present us faultless before God, and that is something we can rely upon, for that promise is God's word of truth. Saints rejoice! Losers must make a change.
Mountain Time Moment
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation.
Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,
Ephesians 1:13 NIV
Complete article with verse links at:
http://home.comcast.net/~philemon25/Ephesians113.pdf
Ph 25,
http://www.highergroundchapel.com
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