God doesn't Judge on the Points System.

This is a biblical and theological approach to explaining salvation when I was attending a Pentecostal church in my thirties. The pastor explained very well that there are two ways that people believe we go to Heaven, one is correct and the other is not. He used the example of St. Mother Teresa and Billy Graham. I think he asked us who we thought was holier, of course both these people are somewhere now, but back then it was a respectful debate. He went on to explain that we all agreed that these two people were saints, but we still didn't know why these two people were equally holy in the presence of God? The Pastor went on to explain the points system and the difference of being a good person, and how some people feel we can earn our way to Heaven. He was saying that the more good deeds we do, the more points we get with God and the more points we have that are good when we die than the bad points, God lets us into Heaven. Of course he said this was incorrect, and then went on to explain what I am about to explain to you.

If you picture a big chasm on one side is sinful man, and on the other side is Heaven. Man cannot cross the chasm without the help of a bridge. That bridge the Pastor explained was the cross of Jesus Christ. It is only through faith in Jesus Christ can we cross the bridge from earth to Heaven. He explained that Jesus is the bridge that we must trust to get to Heaven. He was saying that when we are saved we are just as holy or righteous as a St. Mother Teresa or a Billy Graham. He also was saying that despite the obvious difference in public opinion between these two people they would be in Heaven by the same way. Just like us. This is Mike.

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The Parable of the Ten Virgins.

Matthew 25:1-13 I have discovered a remarkable interpretation of this parable that I would like to share with you. The story in the Bible goes like this: “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ 9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy som...

Age of Brokenness.

We are living in an age of brokenness, no matter what age you are, you probably have been touched with relationships falling apart, which causes more and more people to live in isolation. In this generation there is less of an incentive to heal and reconcile relationships, but that doesn’t excuse the amount of people who are broken. Why people don’t seem to be motivated to heal relationships is because our beliefs about faith and God have changed, really giving us less of an incentive to do what our religion says. If I act from my personal beliefs, but the person that I am responding to has abandoned religious beliefs, than the response to my wanting things to be better can be misinterpreted and rejected then by someone else. Generally when a society has expectations about broken relationships, loneliness and isolation, and the beliefs are generally accepted, society becomes a more compassionate society, because all value the same things. When religious values are undermined and ...

The Biblical Meaning of “Life in the Spirit.”

“Life in the Spirit” is an example that the Apostle Paul gives in the book of Romans starting in chapter 5 and going through to chapter 8. He begins by telling us we are justified by faith (5:1), and have gained access by faith into the grace of God (5:2). We have been delivered from God’s wrath (5:9) and we have been reconciled to God through the death of His Son (5:10). He goes on to explain that through Adam all die (5:12), and that the free Gift of God brings justification and righteousness to the believing sinner (5:15-17). Through our conversion we are baptized into Christ and into his death, which frees us from the law and makes us dead to sin (6:2-4). He explains that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we are given new life in Christ (6:4). Our old unregenerate self was crucified with Christ so that our body of sin might be done away with (6:5-6). Because we have died to sin, we now submit ourselves to God being that we are now under grace, not the law (6:8-1...

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