“DEAR CHURCH OF CHRIST MEMBER…”
1.
I
love God and believe in Jesus. I
want to follow Christ and be like Christ
2.
I
believe Jesus died on the cross for their sins, was buried and rose
again the
third day
3.
I
know that God’s grace saved me by having faith in Jesus Christ
4.
I
pray
to God and Jesus every day to help me by His Holy Spirit
5.
I
go
to church and take Holy Communion
6.
I
believe in God and pray to Him
7.
I
do
the best of my ability to try and keep the Ten Commandments
8.
I believe the Apostles creed and can recite
it
9.
I
believe water baptism is necessary for salvation
10.
I
believe I can lose my salvation – that is, there’s no eternal security
“Congratulations! You’re a Roman Catholic because they
believe that too!”
WHAT!!!! I am not!!!!
Here’s the thing – what you believe is contained in
the Sermon on the Mount which are the rules for entry into heaven.
Christ gave
the people all his rules and regulations to set up his kingdom from
heaven here
on earth.
Absolutely! And what’s wrong with that?
When you read them you will see they are nothing but
works. You will note they were impossible to keep! The
apostles said ““Who
then can be saved?” (Matt 19:25). Jesus answers “…with God all
things are
possible” (Matt 19:26). Christ was saying “I am God. I’ll do them on
your
behalf BUT you will also have to go to the temple and perform
animal
sacrifices for the forgiveness of your past sins!
So?
Like
then, to get into heaven today, you still have to have to keep the
Sermon on
the Mount rules perfectly!
What!
Are you crazy!
No,
but here’s the difference, we can believe that Christ has fulfilled all
the
requirements of the Sermon on the Mount on our behalf.
So
what?
This
means Christ has done it all for us – perfect works and his perfect
blood as
payment for all past and future sins. There is no more law for
us to do
for our salvation and there remains no more sacrifices for
sins.
What
about getting water baptised to get saved?
That
is a work! Do you believe the verses “For
by grace are ye saved through faith; and that
not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest
any man
should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) and
“…
there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins”
(Hebrews 10:26)
What
about the Lord’s supper?
Not
to get saved! Paul says it’s only in remembrance
of what Christ has done for us (1Cor 11:24-25).
What
if I sin again, will I lose my salvation?
Never!
If you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and
what he has done for you, you have been born again and placed into
God’s
heavenly family and he will never kick you out! But if you don’t judge
yourself
regarding your sinning, you will get weak, sick and die, but God will
take you
home into heaven. Put it this way – you will never kick your children
out of
the family, right? You might not give them any inheritance, BUT THEY
HAVE THE
SAME DNA AS YOU! They are in your family forever. Similarly, you
are born
into God’s family - never to be lost! You now have the same spiritual
‘DNA’ as
God! THIS IS HIS LOVE that while we were yet sinners Christ died
for us and
now we still sin God will not throw us out of his family. You
have
eternal security.
Well
that means I can go and sin my head off then!
If
that’s what you want to do, you are not saved!
If you are saved you will have a hatred for sin. You won’t want to
willingly
sin anymore! Jesus Christ the Saviour saved you from God’s wrath in the
flames
of hell. You will now want to please him won’t you?
Well
how am I suppose to love Christ the Saviour?
Paul
says to follow him as he follows Christ (1Cor
11:1). Your doctrine for the Christian life is in Romans through to
Philemon –
Paul’s books to the churches. It’s no longer the works of the
Mount
Sermon and animal blood, it’s Christ’s perfect works and his perfect
blood that
gives us eternal security.
Dear
Reader, did you know that …
