GOD's Next

Aside from salvation being by grace through faith (not of ourselves, not of works or anything we do. It is the gift of God, lest we boast), we must also "make every effort" to enter the narrow door. Every effort. It's an all-out effort. There's effort involved and the effort is part of believing Jesus for everlasting life. The context of the narrow door [Luke 13] talks about salvation or entering heaven. Photo by Roan Lavery on Unsplash . 23 Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ 26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you o...

Entering heaven is solely through believing in Jesus. You shall not perish but have everlasting life, says Jesus. As simple as that. Paul also wrote how salvation is by grace through faith alone. Not of works. Yet, we almost forget that it's also through obedience. Faith and obedience are one flesh, joined together by God, and no one should separate them.  Photo by Yanhao Fang on Unsplash . I very seldom hear (or probably never heard) anyone in church preach on this. They pressed on our minds that works were unnecesary--works cannot save you--and works followed after salvation by grace. But Jesus said otherwise. He said salvation is determined by how we do the will of his Father.  Matthew 7.21:  Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Supernatural powers that GOD gave the church but which the church belittled and rejected are now in the hands of the occult, distorted. ...

It is not works replacing grace, but works revealing grace. I don't know if you have heard it preached at your church that being saved from sin and entering heaven seriously includes active and intentional caring for the needy and the weak. We're familiar with what Paul said about being saved by grace through faith alone, not of yourself, not of works. It's a gift. And it's true. Jesus Christ revealed that to Paul through divine supernatural revelation. Photo above by Yasin Onuş on Unsplash .  But the problem is, we just focused on what Paul said and paid little to zero attention to what Jesus said about salvation, aside from being born again and receiving him which gives us the right and power to be children of God. Jesus also taught about generosity to the needy and how it can decide whether we end up in heaven or hell. We must combine what Jesus and Paul said and not pit their teachings against each other. Denominations do that. To preserve their doctrines they reje...

Salvation, as Jesus taught in Matthew 19, is far deeper than a verbal confession or a superficial acceptance of His name, which is what salvation often means in church today. When the rich young ruler asked, “What good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16), Jesus’ response revealed that salvation is not merely about moral compliance but radical surrender. And I mean RADICAL.  Photo above by Margo Evardson on Unsplash . First, he pointed the man to the commandments, which shows that to Jesus the commandments matter a lot in salvation, specifcally loving the Lord our God with our all, and loving our neighbor as ourselves. But when the man claimed he had kept them, Jesus exposed the heart issue: attachment to wealth. Money and giving it up is a vital issue for Jesus in salvation and if you really love God with your all and your fellow as yourself. And this is what church fails to emphasize---because it will mean the church itself and its denomination should ...

Giving up everything for Jesus is not a popular salvation teaching in church today. I think no one sees salvation this way. We're used to Paul's by grace through faith doctrine, not of ourselves, not of our works, it is a gift from God, so no one can boast. Which is true because Paul got his teachings from Christ's revelations. But church misses what it means to be saved  by faith . Faith means we believe and obey all that Jesus did for us and all he taught---ALL he taught---among which is giving up everything to be a true disciple.  Photo above by Rapha Wilde on Unsplash . Non-Christians must see that receiving Jesus into their lives for salvation includes giving up everything they have for him, not just receiving Jesus. You see this principle in the Book of Acts and elsewhere in the epistles, like those who were persecuted and "joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions," [Hebrew...

Discipleship is Part of Salvation A lot of church people will say discipleship should be done after you get saved. Jesus thought otherwise. He taught that salvation and discipleship should go together. When you share about eternal life to someone (about getting saved from sin), it's vital to simultaneously discuss about discipleship---in particular, talk about denying the self, picking up our cross from Jesus, and following him. People need to understand what receiving Jesus really means. It's clear in the passage context. Photo above by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash . When Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23), he laid down the radical essence of discipleship and connected it to salvation in verses 24-25; Jesus said anyone who wants to save his life will lose it if we ignore his challenge to deny the self and pick up our cross to follow him. This call is not about half-hearted commitme...

Born of Water and of the Spirit: A Deeper Look at John 3 The first time I saw this passage was when I was born again in 1980. You cannot see, much less enter, God's Kingdom unless these experiences are genuinely yours. "Born again" connotes a re-start or "reboot" of your life and get a chance at living a brand new one. It's not a repaired or patched up life, or a mere change of lifestyle. It's getting a totally brand new life, which Paul the apostle describes as a new creation---the old is past, gone. The new has come. It is all new. It's not a combination of old and new. It's NEW. Photo above by Kirsten Frank on Unsplash . The phrase “born of water and of the Spirit” in John 3:5 has stirred much discussion across Christian traditions. Different denominations and faith persuasions have offered varying interpretations of what Jesus meant when He told Nicodemus, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” ...