spirital musings, mundane rantings and far more baloney

MY BELOVED HOTTIE

Adrian and myself spent an evening today at the Church of Our Saviour for service with our very lovely hostess Miss Ong. And she was looking hotter than before. Oh yeah. Chilly hot hot!




Check out their website here at www.coos.org.sg

And there was dinner later with our beloved Chad.



I want to talk about something which has been running about in my mind for sometime. It's some kind of theological notion, conviction or hypothesis or like what some people coin - poor religious dreck.

So this is a forewarning to inform that unless you're a theological junkie like myself, you could get really lost with the remaining of this entry.

This thought came about after knowing a friend in my camp. I'm not trying to be judgmental here but hear me out. Jackson (not his real name) is a catholic who curses and smokes frivolously. He privately operates a money lending business which charges a good interest rate. He claims to be some kind of youth leader in church but harbor a serious enmity towards protestant Christians. Of which, his favourite catch-phrase to me is, christian go burn in hell. And I hear that each time I try to get him into a serious God-talk conversation. Basically, he's someone who exhibits little regard for what he believes in.

So I'm just thinking, is this dude who possibly believes in Jesus still going to heaven even as he rejects the teaching of the law?

And if we both do, what if I encounter a smirking, hey kev i'm here too after all I've done! Bleh! ?

But after a while I realised it's a silly little question with almost zilch importance. Because entering heaven is just a perk of eternal life. The gist of Salvation is a beautiful relationship with Jesus Christ in our good and bad times on earth.

Then I came to recall that in the gospel of Matthew 7:21, Jesus says "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.

Cross-referenced to Luke 6:46, "Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?"

Isaiah 55:6-7 also says "Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near .."

So we know now for a fact that in the last days, there will be people who will be left behind even when they call upon God's name. Sadly, there will be a time when God will not be found. And that is the moment when the last trumpet sounds which Jesus would descend onto earth, also known as Christ's second coming.

So who qualifies for Salvation? The bible clearly reveals that only those who receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour can receive eternal life. We're therefore saved through God's grace through our faith when we make a decision to commune with Jesus. And by that principle, a man who only does good deeds, however without a relationship with Christ will not qualify.

So I drew up this summary diagram with photoshop to illustrate my point.



In the book of Ephesians 2: 8-9, it says "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

The first part of this verse tells us that we're saved by grace and not by works. It goes on to say that we're saved for the purpose of good works.

By that principle, many friends try to convince me that I can purposefully sin all my life - murder, steal, rape, drink, smoke, gamble and accept Jesus last minute just to enter heaven. Doesn't it seem like a very convenient idea? Or better still, accept Jesus and still commit those vices. Now, can such faith save me?

But in the book of James 2:20, it reminds us that faith without works is dead.

It was a struggle trying to understand this paradox initially. But hear how I attempt to interpret this.

THE FACTS

1. We're saved by the grace of God through faith when we receive Jesus Christ into our hearts.
   
2. We're saved primarily because of God's love for us - we can therefore love God and experience His goodness and sovereignty.
3. We're also saved for good works - to love people and to demonstrate God's love towards humanity in a practical way such as caring, providing and ministering to the poor.
4. When we have faith, we will perform good works, because this is also what we're saved for. Good works is a by-product of salvation and genuine faith.
   

THE ARGUEMENT

1. We're saved by God's loving grace and therefore we can be disobedient and receive eternal life as long as we believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins.
2. We're saved by grace through faith but we do not need to perform/exhibit/carry any godly demeanor (eg fruits of the spirit) as long as we confess Jesus Christ to be our saviour.

KEV'S HUMBLE CONCLUSION

1. We can smile and not be happy. But we cannot be happy and not smile.
2. In the same way, we can do good works without having faith. But we cannot have faith without doing good works. BECAUSE good works is a BY-PRODUCT of genuine faith!

To end it off, this is one last verse for you.

James 2:14-18 says, "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do."

Now, you get my point?

posted by kevin @ 12:56 AM