Sermon On the Net

Hi Everyone:

 

In John 3:17-18 Jesus is saying He did not come into the world to judge it but to save those who believe in Him. Believers are not to be judged on their own merits regarding salvation, whereas unbelievers will be. God will look at believers through Jesus and will not see our sinful nature. Unfortunately for the unbeliever this is not true. Unbelievers will stand naked before God and will be condemned because they rejected Jesus by not accepting Him. And there is no second chance. Hebrews 9:27 states men die once and judgment follows death. In John 5:24 Jesus emphasizes that believers will not come into judgment. Believers pass from separation (death) from God to union with Him through Jesus. By the way, do not confuse the judgment of non-believers with the rewards to be given to believers when they are in Heaven, predicated of course, on their lives on earth and service to God. See 1^st Cor. 3:14.

 

John 6:29 makes a very important point on the issue that Jesus raised while talking to the multitude; "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent". In verse 27 Jesus tells them not to work for 'food' that perishes, but for 'food' that leads to eternal life. In other words- works or working for salvation doesn't result in salvation-wasted effort equals wasted time. Remember, I didn't say it, Jesus said it. I could spend a great deal of time on this subject of works or sacrifices but I know it would not sit well with some people. Please consider what Jesus says throughout the Gospels when He talks about salvation. In essence Jesus says believe in me, period; end of story. As a matter of fact, Jesus said there are 3 things He wants us to do:

1)      Believe in Him…John 3:16

2)      Love Him…Matthew 22:37,38…Mark 12:30

3)      Love you neighbor…John 15:17

I don't see anywhere in the Bible any additional requirements other than these three, so why do religious people concern themselves with working their way into Heaven? The answer is they simply do not believe what Jesus says throughout all the Gospels. What about the Christians who keep on trying to work their way into Heaven? The answer is I don't know, that is between them and God as to their status. The Christians that I am concerned about are those who profess to be believers in Jesus and yet continue to be chained to those principles and practices of religions that are not found anywhere in Scripture. I wish I could go further in developing this point but I must remind myself that my only concern, and it is a deep concern, is for people to listen to what Jesus is saying and to believe in Him

 

John 10:1. Jesus, again, states there is no other way to salvation other than through Him. John 10 is an interesting chapter with a point or two worthy of a detour, if you will take a short journey with me. In the beginning of the chapter Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees and trying to explain to them the way to salvation, but to no avail. They simply were not listening nor did they understand His words because they were not His. Verse 16 is very interesting because He is talking about us. We, i.e., anyone who believes in Jesus are the other 'sheep' that He is talking about. As He says He will bring us into the 'fold' with the other sheep (saved Jews) and we shall become one 'flock'. If you recall in my last letter I mentioned that the veil in the Temple was torn from top to bottom (Luke 23:45) and this signified that the way to God was now open to all who believe in Jesus. There you have the reason Jesus came to the earth, to die on the cross to pay for the sin of mankind. His death is an invitation to anyone, any age and any time. Again, folks, we have so much to be thankful for in Jesus.