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 ...

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.” ...

Many church people profess to have "accepted" Jesus into their lives as Savior and Lord. To me, the proper term is "receive." Nothing is said in the bible about accepting Jesus. One definition of "accepting" on the internet is this: approving of something, or allowing someone to join a group.   When you accept someone or something, there's an overtone of your superiority, dominance or pre-eminence. Like, you're approving a subordinate, so you accept his or her work or report.  Photo above by Keagan Henman on Unsplash . The bible says we "receive" Jesus Christ as everything he claims to be. Not just Savior and Lord. He is God, King, Provider, Defender, Shield, Healer, Ruler, Friend, and many more. Receive connotes humble and grateful receipt of a gift from a superior or someone in authority over you. It's why we're told to "ask and you shall receive" not "you shall accept." We receive Jesus from God the Father...

Jesus told Nicodemus how to get to heaven. BELIEVE. As simple as that. But at the same time, it isn't as simple. Believing must be "in Him." The demons also believe, but they believe like the unbelievers who think they believe but they don't. James told them, "You believe there is one God," and hinted that belief there is one God is not good enough. You have to "believe in him." Photo above by Anna Dziubinska on Unsplash . Whoever It's an open invitation. It's an open challenge. Anyone may try to taste and see that the Lord is good. But as Jesus' wedding banquet parable shows, most people won't. Can you imagine turning down an invitation to a feast? Everybody loves to eat at banquets, and this banquet is open to all---first, to the first invited guests, later to the rest. Even those invited later had to be dragged and compelled to the banquet, illustrating the reluctance of most people (if not all people) to the Lord's invitat...