What is to be believed? Listening to those who have called themselves teachers of the Word, one can become lost in an endless circle. I was born a sinner from the womb and sin because I am a sinner. It is not that I am a sinner because I sin. Sin does not make one a sinner. One is a sinner by birthright. Because I am a sinner, I cannot come to God except by Jesus Christ who is God. So if I am not already with God, Jesus Christ, I cannot come to God because I am a sinner. Too many Bible teachers stop there and leave the searching believer wondering how to ever break the endless cycle that traps them in sin. Law is the answer most given. The Bible teachers say we do not live under the Old Testament law, then create their own New Testament law that traps as surely as the rules of the Pharisees.
Nothing I do or do not do can change the fact that I am a sinner, but there are still many things I must do. All things are possible with God, except I can’t get there being born a sinner. Jesus lived and died so our sins could be forgiven and we could be with God, one on one. How do we get to Jesus, who is God, if we cannot get to God because we are sinners? We do not, Jesus gives to us the gift of forgiveness and there is nothing else we must do, but to be born (not “born again” but the first time), to receive it. One cannot take forgiveness it is only given. One does not find forgiveness in the Lord, one could not find the Lord if there was not first forgiveness. So I being born a sinner am not a sinner because of forgiveness. From my mother’s womb You have been my God.
Grace is God’s merciful forgiveness of sin while we are still living in sin so we can come to Him. Not that we should continue to live in sin but so we can live in grace. If I am born into sin but also grace then why is one to be born again to enter the Kingdom of God? The rebirth is not a matter of law but a process that one goes through after realizing what God’s grace is doing in their life. One is born of water and Spirit. The baptism of water is still to flesh; the rebirth of Spirit is required to enter into the Kingdom of God. The rebirth of Spirit is also a gift from God in His time when one is ready. We do not earn the Spirit anymore than we earn grace. One must only believe in the name of the begotten Son of God and the gift of the Holy Spirit is sent to put one in remembrance of the teaching of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is the Way, the Doorway, to the Kingdom of God. Regardless of who your parents are or where you were born, grace covers you from birth. If you were born in a country with a Christian church on every corner to parents that attended every week (Saturday or Sunday), you were covered by grace at birth. If you were born in a country with a Christian church on every corner to parents that never attended one, you were covered by grace at birth. If you were born in a country with no Christian churches to parents that never heard the name of Jesus, you were covered by grace at birth. If you have been born, you are covered by grace from birth. If any of you pray to God, He hears you. Do you Evangelists think that it is your prayers that take you into the world to preach? It is in answer to the prayers of people that are seeking. Do you believe that the monies you spend on clothes, cars, trips, new faces and Bibles were given to you in answer to your prayers? They were given in answer to the prayers of those seeking (of which you may be one).
Those of you that think all roads cannot lead to God I have a challenge. Hold a conference in Indianapolis, Indiana. Only open one doorway of the building where the conference is held. Everyone attending must drive from where they are to get there and must all take the same road and enter into the building taking the same path from where they park to the doorway. Once inside the conference building, walk the same path to the same chair. The Doorway is Jesus Christ. The path one is on is narrow, because it is for one person to walk (it is all that is required). The way you get to the Doorway, God the Son – Jesus Christ, is not the same as another’s, but you were covered by grace the entire trip, from birth. How can that be? All things are possible for and/or with God.
When our Lord was placed on the cross He said, “Forgive them Father for they know not what they do.” And it was for this purpose He lived and died. Jesus was not talking only of the men that took Him, beat Him and hung Him on the pole to die. Jesus was not talking only of the leaders that passed judgement on Him. Jesus was not talking only of the people alive when He was put to death. Jesus the Christ was talking about humanity. Jesus was saying to God the Father, “Forgive them.” And we are all, from Adam to the last child born, part of them. We do not know what we are doing. Without God’s grace and mercy, that was witnessed to all of mankind by Jesus the Christ, we are lost in our unknowing. Jesus is now the head of Christ and has sent an open invitation to all to become part of the body of the Christ. Jesus is now the King of kings and has sent an open invitation to all to become part of the Kingdom. God the Father is our King’s Lord and it is within His mercy and grace we live.
What is to be believed? That God has always been merciful and grace has always abounded. What is to be believed? That, as humans, we do not know and we have never known. What is to be believed? That Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit and a woman as a living example of God’s mercy and grace. Forgiveness is not reserved for the holy. One cannot be holy without the forgiveness. The Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, is not reserved for the anointed or appointed of man but all that seek will find and to all that ask it will be given. The wine in the cup of Jesus is for all just as His bread of life is for all. The breaking and blessing of bread and the blessing of the wine is not reserved for the anointed or appointed of man but for all that come to the Lord’s table. The Holy Spirit will come and will put one in remembrance of the teaching of Jesus and bring one understanding. What is to be believed?