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| subject: | All Are Given A Chance...But 02 |
It should be clear then that hearing the Gospel, as well as accepting the truth of the Gospel, is available to all men everywhere. As we saw earlier, the Apostle Paul wrote in his Epistle to the Romans that we are all sinners; we have all come under condemnation; and so we all require a Saviour; and that is Jesus Christ. As I point out in "Message To The World", there are no exceptions. In short, as the following verses plainly tell us, and as I also mention in the article "Is God A Racist?", God is not a respecter of persons. He is not partial to His creations. He does not have one special race of people who have a unique hold on Salvation because of their bloodline. It does not matter who we are in the flesh, but rather what we become through spiritual rebirth, by our acceptance of the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ: "Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, NOR RESPECT OF PERSONS, nor taking of gifts." 2 Chronicles 19:7, KJV "Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that GOD IS NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS:" Acts 10:34, KJV "For there is NO RESPECT OF PERSONS with God." Romans 2:11, KJV "And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; NEITHER IS THERE RESPECT OF PERSONS WITH HIM." Ephesians 6:9, KJV "And if ye call on the Father, WHO WITHOUT RESPECT OF PERSONS judgeth according to every manÕs work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:" 1 Peter 1:17, KJV "My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But IF YE HAVE RESPECT TO PERSONS, YE COMMIT SIN, and are convinced of the law as transgressors." James 2:1-9, KJV So again, the Gift of Eternal Life is not just for Blacks, or for Whites, or for Orientals, or for Jews; or just for anyone else; it is available to all men. We are all either saved, or we are unsaved. We are either washed in the Blood of the Lamb, or else we are not. That is all that God sees. While we may be of different nationalities in the flesh, once we come to Christ, once we are born of the Spirit, we lose our Earthly nature, and we take on the nature of the inner man of the Spirit; we become new creatures; and we all become one in Him; we each become a part of God's spiritual family; as we see here: "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be ChristÕs, then are ye AbrahamÕs seed, and heirs according to the promise." Galatians 3:27-29, KJV "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17, KJV "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;" Ephesians 3:14-16, KJV But, there is an interesting catch to this situation. As I point out in some of the aforementioned articles, while the Gift of Salvation is freely open to all men, and while God is no respecter of persons, at the same time, the Scriptures also make very clear that not everyone will be saved. While it may surprise you, Jesus Himself tells us that most people will in fact not be saved, due to their unbelief, and their rebellious and wicked hearts. Consider these verses: "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Matthew 7:13-14, KJV "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved." John 3:19-20, KJV ". . . Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" Luke 18:8b, KJV In a small comment found in his second Epistle to the Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul also adds this interesting thought: ". . . for all men have not faith." 2 Thessalonians 3:2, KJV We can compare this situation to a fishing expedition. You may recall that when the Lord first began recruiting His Disciples, He chose certain brothers who were fishermen by occupation. These included Peter, James, John and Andrew. You will also know that the Lord often used simple stories about everyday life, called Parables, in order to explain a certain concept regarding the Kingdom of Heaven. When He chose some of these men, He said to them: ". . . Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19b, KJV The message here was clear. Whereas before they had been fishers of real fish, now they would be fishers of souls for the Kingdom of Heaven. As experienced fishermen, they knew that not every day is a good day out in the boat. Sometimes the fish bite, and sometimes they don't. I recall two times where the Disciples had bad nights. God used the first to convince them of Jesus' Messiahship, as we see here: "Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at JesusÕ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him." Luke 5:4-11, KJV Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your Download Center 4 Mac BBS Software & Christian Files. We Use Hermes II --- Hermes Web Tosser 1.1* Origin: Armageddon BBS -- Guam, Mariana Islands (1:345/3777.0) SEEN-BY: 10/1 3 11/331 34/999 53/558 120/228 123/500 128/2 140/1 222/2 226/0 SEEN-BY: 236/150 249/303 250/306 261/20 38 100 1381 1404 1406 1418 266/1413 SEEN-BY: 280/1027 320/119 396/45 633/260 267 285 712/848 800/432 801/161 189 SEEN-BY: 2222/700 2320/100 105 200 2905/0 @PATH: 345/3777 10/1 261/38 633/260 267 |
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