Bible Studies

Part Three

Picking up where we left off at the end of Part two . . .

Disbelieving (1), when presented with the unadulterated Gospel Message, results in one remaining in the spiritually dead condition in which Fallen Man comes into this world, and sets the stage for him or her to be tossed into what the Bible calls the lake of fire (2).

All religious beliefs sounds good and feels good to their followers. One’s religious beliefs will in fact provide him or her with “a” place in Eternity. The question is not if, but where, that place will be, be it in Heaven or Hell. There is no third option.

Biblical Christianity teaches that eternal life is an unearned, undeserved, GIFT from God that He bestows on all that believe, when presented with the unadulterated Gospel Message encapsulated in John 3: 16, 18; nothing more, nothing less.

The integrity of the salvation (eternal life) that one receives at the moment he or she is born-again, can never be improved upon or diminished.

However, the quality of a born-again believer’s post salvation spiritual life can be very much improved or diminished by the ongoing choices he or she makes. The quality of a born-again believer’s post salvation spiritual life does not change WHERE he or she will spend all of eternity, but determines HOW it will be experienced; with or without 1Cor. 3: 14 reward and Rev.2/Rev. 3 privileges that are reserved for those to become advancing disciples.

Biblical Christianity teaches that the forever-saved born-again believer has the daily opportunity to glorify God by learning and applying the principles of the Word of God to all that he or she thinks, days, and does. 24-7.

Advancing disciples do not obey or serve God in order to be rewarded. They would do the same if there were no reward coming, as their obedience and service is an expression of the love that they have for God (3).

Participating in the Great Commission, evangelizing and edifying others, is not an option; it was and is a command given to all Church-Age, born-again, believers.

Atheism promotes the idea that there is no god to worship, to serve, or to worry about, and that there is no existence at all, following the physical death of the body.

Actually, there are no atheists in the Torments of Hades, as all former atheists become believers when they find themselves there when they depart this world, but too late to do anything about it. They will be sent into the Rev. 20: 15 lake of fire for having been unbelievers during their time here on Earth.

All erroneous religious traditions of men, have been, are now, and will be the end result of filling in the inevitable void WE create AFTER rejecting or adding to what the Bible actually has to say.

In the case of atheism, it begins with the rejection of the knowledge of eternity that God places in EVERY soul that He creates (4). Idolatry begins when one rejects the one true God and fills the inevitable void by identifying and worshiping one or more of the many false deities promoted by the Psalms 96: 5, man-made, satanically endorsed, religions of the world. Both atheist and followers of these religions make up the “unbelievers” spoken of in Rev. . 20: 15, who will be tossed into the lake of fire.

Many folks consider this type of teaching to be narrow-minded and even hateful. Matt. 7: 14 agrees that the one way to God is narrow.

I believe that hatred is in view when one has knowledge of the truth and does not share it with others for their own good. No one can really love others and be not concerned for their spiritual well-being. Better to be hated now, than to have them in Hades saying that you knew the truth but did not share it with them.

Do you love enough that you are willing to be hated for the love you have for God and other people? Or are you more like the false prophets who tell people that everything is going to be all right (for them), when you know better?

The Man-made religions of the world promote many different idols (5) as being the one true god, with each one having their own set of requirements for their followers to comply with or to embrace, in order to receive blessings in time and eternity.

There is nothing new about any of this.

Being born-again is the first and the last step required of Man in the salvation process that has been made clear in the unadulterated Gospel Message.

The bestowing of the John 3: 16 gift of eternal life; the Titus 3: 5 regenerating of our dead spirit; and the Eph. 4: 30 sealing (being marked for identification as a child of God) is the automatic work of God (not clergy) that takes place at the moment one is born-again.

On the other hand, discipleship, being the study and application of the Word of God, is a process that begins on the day one is born-again, but is never finished this side of Heaven.

No matter how far advanced we may become in the life of discipleship, there will always be room for improvements, if we are to continue to become more and more conformed to the likeness of Christ (6),

Along the way, believers would be wise and most effective if they keep the Matt. 7: 4 principle in mind when interacting with others.

“…how can you say to your brother, “Let me (help you) take the speck out of your eye,” when there is a log (bigger problem) in your own eye (Matt. 7:4 NASB2020 parentheses mine.”

This teaching is not to be used as an excuse for not sharing Biblical principles with others, but is a reminder of what had been, and still may be, issues of our own that needed or still needs to be addressed.

Human viewpoint and religion put the cart (the life of discipleship) ahead of the horse (salvation). Cleaning up our act is NOT the means to either obtain or retain the gift of salvation.

Discipleship (the cart) follows salvation (the horse), not the other way around. Cleaning up our act for the glory of God should be the result of having already been saved, and is not the means to either obtain or to retain the unearned gift of eternal life.

What many born-again believers fail to recognize when trying to clean up his or her act, is that we cannot make the fallen nature (that remains in us) any better.

The sin nature WITHIN us, that influenced, deceived, motivated, and pressured us to think, say, and do the negative things that we have been involved in the past, does NOT change, no matter how hard we try!

The fallen nature not only remains, but will do its best to keep pace with whatever forward progress one may make along the road to spiritual maturity, with the quality of the born-again believer’s post salvation spiritual life (not his salvation) hanging in the balance.

The means of making enduring change in our lives is examined in the next part of this series.

(1) John 3:18 (2) Rev. 20: 13, 15 (3) John 14: 15 (4) Eccl. 3: 11 (5) Psalms 95: 6 (6) Rom.8: 29

End of Part Three