GOD's Next

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.” ...

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...

The Kingdom Wealth Principle and Philippians 4:19 There was a time---a long time---when I misunderstood the connection between giving and blesings and misapplied Philippians 4.19. I thought I could just claim the passage and get God's blessings and riches in heaven, and live happily ever after. God wants to richly bless us, not just spiritually but financially, and wants some of us to get really rich. But we often see these things in the wrongest way possible. Photo above by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash . Remember how Jesus said he would give the keys of the Kingdom to his disciples (not just to Peter), and what we bind and lose on earth will be bound and losed in heaven? It's in the plural form, keys . And one of the keys is releasing wealth. We can command money to be released, just as Jesus told Peter to get money from the mouth of the fish he'd catch. The problem is, the church and some preachers have been misusing and even abusing this key, enriching their denominat...