Hi again,
Hey blasty.....I have a word for you..... just RELAX .....O.K?
Consider this:
GOD PROMISES THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.....TO ALL WHOM THE LORD CALLS TO HIMSELF.
It's not up to man's freewill.......God does the calling.
The Question one should be asking is.......whom is the Lord calling unto Himself?
And how long will this call be in effect?
----------------
A portion of the following is from a study by Jan Antonsson.
On the Day of Pentecost, Peter's sermon ended with this bold statement:
"Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, for all whom the Lord our God will call" (Acts 2:38,39, NIV).
For years, I failed to see that God's promise of forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy
Spirit is for all whom the Lord calls to him.
Did you see that?
AS MANY AS WHOM THE LORD CALLS TO HIMSELF.
The divine initiative is quite plain there, but it took me decades to move beyond the
instruction to repent and be baptized, and get to the real reason I was compelled to do so:
the Lord had called me to it!
This is the fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy, "and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw (drag) all men to myself" (John 12:32, RSV).
Jesus was lifted up on the cross, "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world" (I John 2:2).
Therefore, the inescapable conclusion is that in Christ, God calls and reconciles the whole
world, all men to Himself.
There's no time parameter given for this calling, nor any limitation about whether it occurs in heaven (spirit), on earth (living now) or under the earth (the dead).
(See Phil. 2:10-11.) The Apostle Paul speaks plainly of this calling, drawing, or dragging
process:
"All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them.
And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation" (II Cor. 5:18,19, NIV).
his passage is the nugget of gold found in the gospel. God is the one who calls us, the one who reconciled us to Himself through Christ.
Additionally, He gave us the ministry of reconciliation. To me, this is the great commission,
the highest calling of a son of God.
What greater privilege could He have bestowed upon us than to call us ministers of
reconciliation. We are to carry the bread of life to the hungry world.
----
AND:
----
For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, 'I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, thatyou may bring salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth.'" And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of God; and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed" (Acts 13:46-48, RSV).
Do you see that?
AS MANY AS WERE ORDAINED, destined, called to eternal life, believed.
Do not despair or fear that you might not be ordained.
What God has planned to do, He will do. Paul says that God preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, that in his seed (Christ) ALL nations would be blessed (Gal. 3: .
Nothing is more secure than God's oath that He will bless all nations Through Christ. "....so also in Christ shall ALL be made alive" (I Cor. 15:22, RSV).
=========================================
Acts 16:14:
"And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, one that
worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened to give heed unto the things which were spoken by Paul.
Did you see that?
WHOSE HEART THE LORD OPENED TO GIVE HEED...
Consider this:
Paul went down to the riverside to pray and preach.
There were probably many people there, thats why he went to preach.
The Lord opened Lydia's heart, to give heed unto the things Paul was saying.
Now, why didnt the Lord open everyones heart to give heed to the gospel message?
Furthermore, what would have happened if the Lord had NOT opened Lydias heart?
It seems likely to me, that after listening to Paul, she probably would have shrugged her
shoulders and gone back to washing clothes and went home.
That is probably what would have tranpired, if left to man's (so-called) freewill alone.
And according to some modern day theologian, she would've had her 'chance' to get saved,....because Paul had preach to her.
So now according to many modern preachers, once she dies, it's off to the eternal furnace she goes.
The intervention of God, dealing with a heart, is almost invisible, so it may be hard to
appreciate or discern what is really happening in a persons life most of the time and why.
CONCLUSION:
As many as the Lord our God ordains, He calls them to hear the word spoken by his servants, i.e. the gospel message....and He also opens their heart to believe and become saved during this Gospel age.
The rest of humanity must wait until their appointed time of resurrection.
.
Hey blasty.....I have a word for you..... just RELAX .....O.K?
Consider this:
GOD PROMISES THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.....TO ALL WHOM THE LORD CALLS TO HIMSELF.
It's not up to man's freewill.......God does the calling.
The Question one should be asking is.......whom is the Lord calling unto Himself?
And how long will this call be in effect?
----------------
A portion of the following is from a study by Jan Antonsson.
On the Day of Pentecost, Peter's sermon ended with this bold statement:
"Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, for all whom the Lord our God will call" (Acts 2:38,39, NIV).
For years, I failed to see that God's promise of forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy
Spirit is for all whom the Lord calls to him.
Did you see that?
AS MANY AS WHOM THE LORD CALLS TO HIMSELF.
The divine initiative is quite plain there, but it took me decades to move beyond the
instruction to repent and be baptized, and get to the real reason I was compelled to do so:
the Lord had called me to it!
This is the fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy, "and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw (drag) all men to myself" (John 12:32, RSV).
Jesus was lifted up on the cross, "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world" (I John 2:2).
Therefore, the inescapable conclusion is that in Christ, God calls and reconciles the whole
world, all men to Himself.
There's no time parameter given for this calling, nor any limitation about whether it occurs in heaven (spirit), on earth (living now) or under the earth (the dead).
(See Phil. 2:10-11.) The Apostle Paul speaks plainly of this calling, drawing, or dragging
process:
"All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them.
And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation" (II Cor. 5:18,19, NIV).
his passage is the nugget of gold found in the gospel. God is the one who calls us, the one who reconciled us to Himself through Christ.
Additionally, He gave us the ministry of reconciliation. To me, this is the great commission,
the highest calling of a son of God.
What greater privilege could He have bestowed upon us than to call us ministers of
reconciliation. We are to carry the bread of life to the hungry world.
----
AND:
----
For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, 'I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, thatyou may bring salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth.'" And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of God; and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed" (Acts 13:46-48, RSV).
Do you see that?
AS MANY AS WERE ORDAINED, destined, called to eternal life, believed.
Do not despair or fear that you might not be ordained.
What God has planned to do, He will do. Paul says that God preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, that in his seed (Christ) ALL nations would be blessed (Gal. 3: .
Nothing is more secure than God's oath that He will bless all nations Through Christ. "....so also in Christ shall ALL be made alive" (I Cor. 15:22, RSV).
=========================================
Acts 16:14:
"And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, one that
worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened to give heed unto the things which were spoken by Paul.
Did you see that?
WHOSE HEART THE LORD OPENED TO GIVE HEED...
Consider this:
Paul went down to the riverside to pray and preach.
There were probably many people there, thats why he went to preach.
The Lord opened Lydia's heart, to give heed unto the things Paul was saying.
Now, why didnt the Lord open everyones heart to give heed to the gospel message?
Furthermore, what would have happened if the Lord had NOT opened Lydias heart?
It seems likely to me, that after listening to Paul, she probably would have shrugged her
shoulders and gone back to washing clothes and went home.
That is probably what would have tranpired, if left to man's (so-called) freewill alone.
And according to some modern day theologian, she would've had her 'chance' to get saved,....because Paul had preach to her.
So now according to many modern preachers, once she dies, it's off to the eternal furnace she goes.
The intervention of God, dealing with a heart, is almost invisible, so it may be hard to
appreciate or discern what is really happening in a persons life most of the time and why.
CONCLUSION:
As many as the Lord our God ordains, He calls them to hear the word spoken by his servants, i.e. the gospel message....and He also opens their heart to believe and become saved during this Gospel age.
The rest of humanity must wait until their appointed time of resurrection.
.
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