Did God Really Say?
Did God Really Say?
By Dennis Huebshman
From the first sin in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3), to the present moment, satan has used a very simple “ploy” to get us to turn away from the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Holy Trinity). He knows God has given us free will to make decisions for ourselves, and he relies on human ego to override that which is right. Sad part is, it’s human nature to “cave” to his temptations. (emphasis mine)
Through the Lord’s Holy Word, and the influence we get from the Holy Spirit, we have everything we need to be pure in thought, word and deed. However, since Adam and Eve went against God’s will, all mankind has a “sin nature” inbred within us. This is why it was imperative that Jesus did not have Joseph’s or Mary’s blood mixed with His.
During His initial “visit” to this earth, He did not sin even once. He was tested at length by satan, and in Jesus’ fully human form, He experienced everything that we experience right up to today. Though He was still fully God, He divested Himself of most of His power, and relied on the Father to give Him strength. This does not mean He did not know that He was God (John 10:30), but He relied on the rest of the Trinity to direct Him. Had He slipped even once, His sacrifice would have been worthless. God can only accept perfection when it comes to how we are atoned for our sinful ways. He totally understands that even after we have accepted Jesus as our Savior, we will sin. This is made clear in Romans 3:23.
With this in mind, the Father, through the apostle John, has provided a means for us to receive absolute forgiveness for what we do wrong. Reading from 1 John 1:8-10, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (9) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins; and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (10) If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”
To be perfectly clear, this process for forgiveness is for those who have received Jesus as their Savior, and have accepted His gift that He willingly gave for us. (John 10:18) Through the actions of one man (and one woman), sin entered this world. Through the act of one man; the man Jesus the Christ; we have a pathway to the Heavenly Father. If a person does not have Jesus as their Savior, they bear the full weight of their sins.
For all the false prophets that are steadily invading evangelical churches; and are saying there are many ways to Heaven; John 14:6 answers this directly and completely. “Jesus said, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” Add to this Acts 4:12 and Romans 8:1, and we are assured Jesus is the only way, and all who accept Him will be saved.
Romans 8:8 is also very appropriate and specific here; “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” As with Adam and Eve, satan tries to tempt everyone by leading our thoughts away from Heavenly things, and toward earthly things. No matter how good something seems to be, or how many possessions we may have, nothing can come close to our eternal souls being in paradise with Jesus. We can’t take earthly “treasures” with us when we leave here.
There’s an old saying that was meant to be humorous that says, “He/she who dies with the most “toys”, wins.” The reality is, he/she who dies, no matter how many “toys” they had, loses. This is if they did not call out to Jesus to be saved before they leave here.
All who do call on His name will be saved, and all earthly possessions become secondary in our lives. (Joel 2:32; Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13) Remember the parable of the rich land owner who put all his faith in his riches. (Luke 12:16-20) He bragged to himself that he would build bigger barns, and live the high life from then on. God had other ideas, and the rich man died that very night. All his possessions went to someone else. As long as we have our necessities, we should be satisfied, even though it is human nature to never be satisfied as long as we are on this earth.
For those of us who have received the Holy Spirit because we cried out to have Jesus save us, we know when we have sinned. For anyone to try and deceive themselves, and say they have no sin, they may want to reevaluate their relationship with Jesus. The part of 1 John 1:10 that says, “..if we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar”, should be a strong warning. God does not lie (Titus 1:2), and I personally would not wish to have to face Him if I were to say that He did lie. We don’t deserve the gift He has provided for us in the first place; but to speak against His love for us, and to not accept Jesus as our true Lord and Savior, is to be condemned to the Lake of Fire forever. (Revelation 20:11-15)
There was no doubt from the very beginning, that God Himself would have to provide our pathway to Him. He knew exactly what would have to happen, and through the prophets, He told us what was to come It was fulfilled exactly as given. This proves we can rely on all His prophecy to be fulfilled exactly as the Bible tells us it will.
Our Heavenly Father could be like some of the man-made gods who they say require many works, and have all kinds of stipulations of how to please them. Even after a person does all they think they can for their faux gods, they are still not assured of paradise.
Our Heavenly Father has stipulations, and rightly so. Our first and foremost requirement is to know and accept that Jesus came to this earth; believe He led a sinless life; He died on the cross at Calvary; His pure-blood sacrifice took on all the sins of the world; He was raised from the dead the third day to conquer sin and death; He returned to Heaven to prepare a place for all who will accept Him. (Romans 10:9-13; John 14:1-3) Believe; confess; repent; accept Jesus. That’s the true path to become a member of His Flock. Jesus did all the work and paid the price for our Salvation in full. Our part is to accept this to be so.
The difficult part about this is believing it is true in the face of an unbelieving world. Christians worldwide are being singled out more and more for persecution. Jesus said we would have trouble in this world, but to be of good cheer because he overcame the world. (John 16:33) Just know, in the end, we win!
There is only one True God, and He is the Lord God Jehovah. He loves us totally (John 3:16-18; Romans 5:8), and wants us to succeed, and be with Him forever (2 Peter 3:9). He knows all about satan’s ways, and has given us a way to be forgiven when – not if – we slip and sin.
When I called out over 30 years ago for Jesus to forgive me, I know the Holy Spirit had put it on my heart to seek Him. There were people who were praying for me, and if I had not responded, I know God would not have forced me to do so. As it turned out, I believed I needed to know more, and read the Bible cover to cover for the first time. It has since become my lifestyle to get into His word every day. It’s a decision that has changed my eternal address.
The biggest lesson I have learned overall, is to not take “man’s” word about what God has given. Things that were told to me as being in the Bible, just weren’t there. Also, I discovered a lot of information that I had not been told about that is essential. God gave us His words, and through prayer and help from the Holy Spirit, it’s not all that difficult to understand. Even after 30 plus years, I still discover new information that I missed before. The basics stay the same; believe, confess, repent, and accept Jesus.
Our relationship with Jesus is foolishness to the world (1 Corinthians 1:18), but when the judgments are in, that’s the only thing that will count. I stated once before, and it’s worth repeating; you could have every treasure this world offers, and without Jesus you are a pauper in God’s eyes. On the other hand, you could be completely indigent, but have Jesus in your heart, and in God’s eyes you are richer than King Solomon ever was.
Consider this; even if you were to live to the age of 110, or even 120, which is a long time in earthly terms, it’s just a blink of an eye to the Father. Remember 2 Peter 3:8; “Now Dear Friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice; that a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord, and a thousand years are like a single day.” God made time for man, and He is not bound by it as we are. To be wrong, and enter eternity without Jesus would be the biggest catastrophe we could ever face. Forever with Jesus will be the greatest prize you could ever win; and there are no special acts or deeds to be done. No special ceremonies or scripts to follow. It’s a “heart” thing, and when you ask Jesus to come into your heart, He will not turn away anyone who calls out to Him to be saved. There is no guarantee on this earth that is as solid as this one.
The only real thing satan can offer is for you to spend eternity in Hell with him and all his demons. Choose today, and choose wisely. It’s totally up to each and everyone of us to make that decision. As Joshua said, “As for me and my household, we will follow the Lord.”
Maranatha – Come Lord Jesus!