'I tell you solemnly, all men's sins will be forgiven, and all their blasphemies; but let anyone blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and he will never have forgiveness: he is guilty of an eternal sins.' This was because they were saying, 'An unclean spirit is in him.' - Mark 3:28-30 - Matt. 12:22-32 - Luke 12:10 -
If, after we have been given knowledge of the truth, we should deliberately commit any sins, then there is no longer any sacrifice for them. There will be left only the dreadful prospect of judgment and of the raging fire that is to burn rebels. Anyone who disregards the Law of Moses is ruthlessly put to death on the word of two witnesses or three; and you may be sure that anyone who tramples on the Son of God, and who insults the Spirit of grace, will be condemned to a far severer punishment. We are all aware who it was that said: Vengeance is mine; I will repay. And again: The Lord will judge his people. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. - Heb. 10:26-31 -
Sin is a real and positive evil. Sin is more than unwise, inexpedient, calamitous attitude, behaviour that produces sadness, sorrow, grief and distress. It is rebellion against God. Sin is thus the faithless rebellion of the creature against the just authority of his Creator. Sin involves the denial of the living God from whom human beings draw life and existence - Acts 17:28 - the consequence of this revolt is death and the torment of hell. Death is the ultimate penalty imposed by God for sin. For this reason, sinning against God and breaking His commandments at any point involves transgression at every point.
Therefore, the man who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven. - Matt. 5:19 - James 2:10 -
For the wage paid by sin is death; the present given by God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Rom. 6:23 -
Apart from Christ Jesus, all are 'dead in trespasses and sins.' But this does not mean that people who committed sins and behave as wickedly as they might, for God restrains the outworking of the sinful heart. God has provided through His Son, Jesus bears the penalty of sin in place of His people. "For the Son of Man himself did not come to be served but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many." - Mark 10:45 - He also redeems us from sinfulness and lawlessness.
And you were dead, through the crimes and the sins in which you used to live when you were following the way of this world, obeying the ruler who governs the air, the spirit who is at work in the rebellious. We all were among them too in the past, living sensual lives, ruled entirely by our own physical desires and our own ideas; so that by nature we were as much under God's anger as the rest of the world. But God loved us with so much love that he was generous with his mercy: when we were dead through our sins, he brought us to life with Christ - it is through grace that you have been saved - and raised us up with him and gave us a place with him in heaven, in Christ Jesus.
This was to show for all ages to come, through his goodness towards us in Christ Jesus, how infinitely rich he is in grace. Because it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith; not by anything of your own, but by a gift from God; not by anything that you have done, so that nobody can claim the credit. We are God's work of art, created in Christ Jesus to live the good life as from the beginning he had meant us to live in. - Eph. 2:1-10 -
Grace is one of the key attributes of God. Therefore, grace is almost always associated with the spiritual gifts: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness, self-control, compassion and justice. The grace of God was supremely revealed and given in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus was not only the beneficiary of God's grace, but He was also its very embodiment, bringing it to mankind for salvation. By His passion, death and resurrection, Jesus restored the broken fellowship between God and His peoples. The only way of salvation for any person is 'through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.'
Peter stood up and addressed them. 'My brothers,' he said, 'you know perfectly well that in the early days God made his choice among you: the pagans were to learn the Good News from me and so become believers. In fact God, who can read everyone's heart, showed his approval of them by giving the Holy Spirit to them just as he had to us. God made no distinction between them and us, since he purified their hearts by faith. It would only provoke God's anger now, surely, if you imposed on the disciples the very burden that neither we nor our ancestors were strong enough to support? Remember, we believe that we are saved in the same way as they are: through the grace of the Lord Jesus. - Acts 15:7-11 -
The Holy Spirit is the One who binds Christ Jesus to all peoples so that they receive grace, forgiveness, and newness of life as well as the spiritual gifts. "Do all you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds you together. There is one Body, one Spirit, just as you were all called into one and the same hope when you were called. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God who is Father of all, through all and within all. Each one of us, however, has been given his own share of grace, given as Christ allotted. - Eph. 4:3-7 -
The theme of grace is especially prominent in the epistles of Saint Paul. He sets grace radically over against law and works of the law. Saint Paul makes it abundantly clear that salvation is not something that can be earned or merited; it can be received only as a gift of grace. Grace, however, must be accompanied by faith, hope and love.
In short, there are three things that last: Faith, Hope and Love; and the greatest of these is love. - 1Cor. 13:13 -
Love is always patient and kind; it is never jealous; love is never boastful or conceited; it is never rude or selfish; it does not take offence, and is not resentful. Love takes no pleasure in other people's sins but delights in the truth; it is always ready to excuse, to trust, to hope, and to endure whatever comes. Love does not come to an end. - 1Cor. 13:4-7 -
In the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible, a person is accepted by the grace, mercy, or love of God through faith and repentance. When it is mentions individuals being accepted by God, offerings frequently are mentioned. In the Old Testament, offerings were acceptable to God when made as prescribed, but they were unacceptable when God's instructions were ignored. However, they were rejected when the attitude of one's heart was wayward and irreverent.
Time passed and Cain brought some of the produce of the soil as an offering for Yahweh, while Abel for his part brought first-born of his flock and some of their fat as well. Yahweh looked with favour on Abel and his offering. But he did not look with favour on Cain and his offering. - Gen. 4:3-4 - Lev. 1:1-17, 7:1-10, 19:7, 22:1-30 - Amos 5:21-23 - Jer. 14:10-16 - Mal. 1:6-14, 2:1-9 -
It was because of his faith that Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain, and for that he was declared to be righteous when God made acknowledgement of his offerings. Though he is dead, he still speaks by faith. It was because of his faith that Enoch was taken up and did not have to experience death: he was not to be found because God had taken him. This was because before his assumption it is attested that he had pleased God. Now it is impossible to please God without faith, since anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and rewards those who try to find him. - Heb. 11:4-6 -
In the primary New Testament passage of acceptance, Saint Paul explains that God has fully accepted believers through the merits of Christ Jesus. God will not reject them; He opens Himself to His own by welcoming them. Saint Paul speaks also of a teaching 'worthy of all acceptance' or deserving of universal. God accepts us fully in Jesus Christ because of His offering and receives what we return to Him.
Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ.
Before the world was made, he chose us, chose us in Christ,
to be holy and spotless, and to live through love in his presence,
determining that we should become his adopted sons, through Jesus Christ
for his own kind purposes,
to make us praise the glory of his grace,
his free gift to us in the Beloved,
in whom, through his blood, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins.
Such is the richness of the grace
which he has showered on us
in all wisdom and insight.
He has let us know the mystery of his purpose,
the hidden plan he so kindly made in Christ from the beginning
to act upon when the times had run their course to the end:
that he would bring everything together under Christ, as head,
everything in the heavens and everything on earth.
And it is in him that we were claimed as God's own,
chosen from the beginning,
under the predetermined plan of the one who guides all things
as he decides by his own will;
chosen to be,
for his greater glory,
the people who would put their hopes in Christ before he came.
Now you too, in him,
have heard the message of the truth and the good news of your salvation,
and have believed it;
and you too have been stamped with the seal of the Holy Spirit of the Promise,
the plede of our inheritance
which brings freedom for those whom God has taken for his own,
to make his glory praised. - Eph. 1:3-14 -
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, and who judged me faithful enough to call me into his service even though I used to be a blasphemer and did all I could to injure and discredit the faith. Mercy, however, was shown me, because until I became a believer I had been acting in ignorance; and the grace of our Lord filled me with faith and with the love that is in Christ Jesus. Here is a saying that you can rely on and nobody should doubt: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I myself am the greatest of them; and if mercy has been shown to me, it is because Jesus Christ meant to make me the greatest evidence of his inexhaustible patience for all the other people who would later have to trust in him to come to eternal life. - 1Tim. 1:12-16 -
Whether we are living in the body or exiled from it, we are intent on pleasing him. For all the truth about us will be brought out in the law court of Christ, and each of us will get what he deserves for the things he did in body, good or bad. - 2Cor. 5:9-10 -
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Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
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Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
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