...and live a life pleasing unto our Lord, denying self, take up our cross and keep on following the Master.
I find these words encouraging: Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
The whole salvation of Christ in our stead is not just saved from hell Robert.
Which begs the question..how many are sealed with the Holy Spirit?
Is it biblical to be frivolous and lighthearted since Christ had nowhere to lay His weary head?
Can we live, in our old age, with one foot in the world ...
I agree, of course the gains of a relationship with Christ and gift of eternal life far surpass the losses and tragedy of spiritual death.
How many Christians are sealed? Don't know, but 2.65 billion claim to have faith in Christ and I believe the remnant to be saved will be in that neighborhood of 1/3 - which is very close to what it is now. All who are written in The Book of Life will be saved before they die and it could happen for many close to death.
People are rebellious until Gid gets their attention and persuades them, their resistance looses its steam , they become played out, bankrupt, which is the case near death. God can finally get their attention - He is so patient and merciful. Many a lost soul finally surrender to God on their death beds. My Mom did only days before she died. It's funny how just two weeks before that, she was telling me _ with a self-righteous and indignation _ that "all Christians have been brain washed to believing what we believe". She knew she was dying, but she stubbornly held onto her view, which was a smorgasbord of beliefs really: Reincarnation, Astrology, the Universal Energy Force (her impersonal god) and her own self. I chipped away at those views for 30 years - I had to, no other evangelist spent more than a few moments with her. And something happened one day. I had been telling her for her last few months that she needed to pray to God and ask for forgiveness. Wow, that would trigger anger. She didn 't believe she ever sinned, nor ever did anything wrong . She always would justify what she did or twist it to blame someone else. I don't want you to get the wrong idea, she was very loving, thoughtful and everyone loved her. She just did not want anyone _ God or man _ to be in authority over her. When I asked her to pray, she would say sharply with a raised voice, "He knows me, my thoughts" ... as if to say she did not need to inform Him about something. I said, "Yes, He does know everything , that is not the issue, He wants to have a relationship with you"! If you talk to Him, that would be acknowledging at least that He exists or that you want to believe.
And then I would give an example of an orphan whose mysterious parent from a distance knew all about their life, had been trying to make contact with this orphan, but the orphan thought it folly, that no such person existed , so never pursued to call back and find their parent. The parent left messages and a number to be reached so they could reunite but the orphan rejected the notion and dismissed it for years.
That reminds of a something a Pastor taught me once during a lesson about the soul of man. We are made in His (invisible Spirit) image, which means we have a soul: a mind, emotions, a will and creative abilities, but also a spirit, which gives us the ability to comminicate with God once it is given life). Animals have souls but not a spirit. They are programmed (with instincts) to live a certain way. They can solve problems, contemplate life, etc. But we have a hierarchal intricacy of abilities, we can contemplate our contemplations. We can want to want.
Animals get hungry and want food, or want to find a mate, but they can't want to want something, they are not made to think that deeply. The dog can't want to drive a car or play the guitar or fly like a bird. They instinctively think to live and function on a basic level, as they were designed. What's my point in all this? Humans can want to want. We may not have the deaire to play the piano, but we can want to have that desire. Someone may influence us, take us to a few live performances, get our interest and then our desire may spark and grow and so then we might take the steps towards learning to play.
Finally my point: Many unbelievers just don't want to know God. But they can want to want to know Him. That is a start. And I think that was the spark that finally ignited my Mom, she wanted to desire a relationship with God and so she opened the door of her heart.
God quickened her spirit, put that spark in her, the birth of faith, a dormant seed that finally sprouted roots and pushed through the surface to get some light and fresh
air and the veil of blindness was lifted. It's a funny thing. Throughout most of her life she wanted to go her own way, however she held unto Biblical principles that she learned growing up in an orphanage from the age of 9-14 due to her parents having TB and unable to care for their three kids. "Do onto others as you would have them do onto you"; " Everything happens for the best"; and "What you sow is what you reap". Both my parents strongly believed and lived by these principles, past dkwn frim their parents, just not their Maker. She did not adjust well to the authorities in the orphange and always held grievances towards the Nuns for their "mean mistreatment" of her. Can you believe they slapped her hand for being obstinate and rebellious - several times? How horrible! It was her pride more than the pain that was injured. I used to her tell, "They didn't slap you enough"! She'd laugh. She always laughed a lot and was happy, content. Go figure.
Two days before her death, I was with my daughter amd granddaughter. I called her and we were shocked. She was singing about Jesus to my 5-month old granddaughter that she loved her and Jesus loves her and was always there for her, how she loved us all and how Jesus' hand was on her shoulder. From rebelliousness to submission. God did that, she was incapable of lifting her own veil which is why people need to understand that God chooses us first and enables us to believe.
God Bless
