by MIMADMIN | Dec 19, 2022 | Uncategorized
“For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” Romans 8:24-25 You can be certain of the future. I cannot tell you that you will certainly die someday. All I can tell you is that you should count on it. People want to be certain that they are saved. Some philosophers say that you cannot be certain of anything, that even your existence is questionable. Assuming that most people do not doubt their existence, I am talking about not being certain of the future. We use the word “know” in at least four different ways: 1) Intimacy – Adam knew Eve and they had a son; 2) Information – Do you know where I placed the car keys? 3) Assurance – I know that the kidney operation will be a success. 4) Certainty – I know that I am talking with you. Paul notes in Romans 8 “we are saved by hope.” By definition, hope is future anticipation. For example, you do not say, “I hope I am alive right now.” Rather, you say, “I hope for a long life” – assuming you wish to live a long life. Certainty is an expression of arrogance. It is a desire to be control. You are not in control; you never have been and you never will be. A proper relationship with God necessitates your understanding of...
by MIMADMIN | Dec 5, 2022 | Uncategorized
“Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgement: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no phobia in love; but perfect love casteth out phobia: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:17-18 The idea that God does not want you to fear Him is a lie. As you know, there can be no accountability without phobia. Men do not want to fear God because they wish to avoid being accountable to God; they want to believe that grace eliminates accountability. To convince themselves they quote this verse from the Apostle John’s first epistle. If you are convinced that this passage teaches that God does not ant you to fear Him, why did Jesus teach, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell?”1 It seems you will have to conclude that John corrected a misperception Jesus had, or that the Savior was talking about a different dispensation of time, which no longer applies in this dispensation of grace – and this in turn means that the content of all four gospels are suspect. The context of 1 John 4 deals with Judgement. To the degree that we love God perfectly, we have nothing to fear when He judges us. The passage does not teach that God’s perfect love for us removes our need to fear Him, but rather our perfect love of Him casts out...
Recent Comments