This week we start the series on the Christian
life and the wonderful promises of scripture and there benefits to us. Teleios
and other authors have shown Christian belief can improve personal wellbeing.
This is great! How do we get it?
Well, the answer is neatly outlined in scripture
in 1 Thessalonians 1:5-7. Let us spend this next series of blogs following
and expanding on this great passage, the basis of the Christian life, and so
good wellbeing.
Here is the passage!
1Th 1:5 For our gospel came not unto you in word
only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye
know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
1Th 1:6 And ye became followers of us, and of the
Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:
1Th 1:7 So that ye were ensamples to all that believe
in Macedonia and Achaia (KJV).
In these verses the Apostle Paul reflects warmly
on the acceptance by the Thessalonians of the gospel that he presented to them and
their progression through the Christian life. The verses are neatly outlined by
the following:
Ø
Becoming a Christian Verse 5
Ø
Security of salvation Verse 5
Ø
Accepting God's Word in daily life Verse 6
Ø
Becoming imitators of Paul Verse 6
Ø
Becoming examples to others Verse 7
Let us start today with salvation. This is the
obvious starting point for the Christian life as Christ said to enter through
the narrow gate to life and to avoid the wide gate to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14). To those who proceed through this narrow gate all the benefits of
Christianity are available, but one must first enter!
How do we do this?
The basis of salvation is to understand:
Ø
Each person has done misdeeds (sin) which deserve
judgment and punishment from a perfect and just God.
Ø
However, God, being loving, sent his Son, Jesus
Christ, to die for our sins on the cross to take the punishment that we
deserved.
Ø
Consequently, we can be declared as perfect by
God by accepting by faith the forgiveness that Christ provided by his death on the cross.
This gracious provision of justification before God provides eternal life!
(Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 10:9-10, and Romans 3:21-26).
This forgiveness is by faith alone. No work is
required. When you believe, confess it to somebody else so you're able to
articulate it (Romans 10:9-10). A person generally does not really know
something until they can tell another person.
So there you have it; it's that simple! If you
have not believed in Christ as your savior please do so now. Please tell us about
it and we will be happy, if you desire, to help you in your beginning journey
as a Christian.
What is the next step…simply to believe it! We
will talk about this more next week.
WC Stewart
Response policy - The purpose of the comment section is to promote discussion that
is encouraging, propels the further search of Scripture and raises interesting
and thought provoking Biblically related questions. You may feel free to
disagree with me in a constructive manner using appropriate language. I reserve
the right to remove your comments if they are profane, pornographic, libelous
or I do not consider them constructive or consistent with the policy
stated above. By posting you no longer own your comments and you are granting
me an unrestricted worldwide license to use your comments.
Copyright © 2016 Teleios, Inc. All rights
reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment