Friday, January 25, 2008

Examine yourself

How do you know you're saved? If you are not a Christian then this blog is not for you. But if you believe yourself to be saved then it is. Many will misunderstand.Some might get angry.And, forgive me in advance for not sugar coating it. And believe me when I say I'm preaching to myself as well.


It is important to ask yourself this question. The bible commands that we do:

2 Corinthians 13:5 "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith....."

And Jesus himself said that there would be many who would proclaim his name, but not be saved, and that you would know the true believers by their fruits:

Matthew 7 Beginning in verse 15:"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'

Look closely how Jesus speaks here. The lost man is repeating Lord twice when he speaks. In English if we want to emphasize something we say it louder, or put it in all caps, but the Hebrew style was to repeat it. So this was not only a man who believed he was saved, but he was putting emphasis on calling Jesus Lord. He was the type who was open and radical. In modern times he'd be the type to wear Christian t-shirts and have fish on his car. He was openly vocal about Jesus, and yet Jesus says he was lost.

So how do you know you are saved? Is it because you feel saved in your heart? What does scripture say about that?

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?

Does it just seem right?

Prov 16:25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death

Is it because a preacher told you you were saved? Is it because you prayed a prayer and asked Jesus in your heart? And then, you looked around at all the other people sitting next to you in Church and you compared your life to theirs and when your life wasn't any worse than theirs you determined if they were saved you were ok too? What makes you think they're saved? Where in the bible does it say if you repeat a prayer after a preacher that you are automatically saved? Don't get your theology from a T-shirt or catchy song!

Praying a prayer does not save you. There are no magic words to get in to heaven. You are saved because when you prayed that prayer you repented and believed. Salvation only comes by faithin Jesus.

So how do you know that you are saved? Look above again at Matthew 7. Jesus says you'll be known by your fruit.A good tree can't produce thorns, and a thorn bush can't produce figs.

He says he who does the will of His father will be saved. Is this a message of salvation by works? NOT AT ALL! The one who does the will of the father does so as evidence of salvation, not to earn salvation. He doesn't do so by his own efforts but because when he met Jesus he was changed and was never the same. He was given a new nature and hates the things God hates. He walks the narrow path, and when he strays God snatches him back. When he sins he hates his own actions because God hates them. He cannot go astray and remain there because God won't let him. He repented, believed and continues to always because he is God's child.

Notice in Matthew 7 that the lost person uses many gifts of the spirit as evidence that he should be saved, but they were not. God never uses gifts as evidence, once again read the verse. You will be known by your fruit. So examine yourself and be sure your are in the faith. Don't compare yourself with others to determine your salvation, but to scripture instead. Your own church is full of people who come every week and sing praises to the Lord and believe their last breath here is their first breath with the Lord. But, sadly they are mistaken. Don't believe you were saved because a preacher told you you were after repeating a prayer but do so because when you prayed a prayer it reflected your repentant heart and you believed in the name of Jesus. You can KNOW you're saved. But KNOW you are saved for the right reasons!

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Pro-life logic

I want to start off by saying if you are a mother who has experienced abortion then this blog is not ment to belittle you. It's aimed at the people who lied to you and told you abortion was harmless and that the person growing inside you wasn't human. For you there is grace and forgiveness in Jesus Christ.

I heard a logical approach to being pro-life on the radio the other day and I agree with it. It is logical to believe that the pro-life movement is the truth. To illustrate we take the 4 differences between an unborn fetus and a newborn baby and evaluate each one.
The first difference is size.
Is an unboard fetus smaller than a newborn baby? Yes it is. Does this make a fetus less than human? Of course not. There are alot of people who are shorter than me. They are not less than human. Size makes no difference in determining humanity. If it did any dwarf or young child could be considered less human than larger people.
So size can not logically be a factor in considering a fetus less than human.

The next difference is level of development.
Is a fetus less developed than a newborn child? Yes it is. Does this make a fetus less than human? Not at all! A 4 year old child is less developed than a 14 year old. Is the 4 year old child less human than the 14 year old? Of course not. People are born with underdeveloped limbs and organs. Are they less human than someone who is born whole? Of course not. You continue to develope for a good part of your life outside the womb. Does this mean you aren't fully human until you stop? Not at all.
So, Level of development is not a logical factor in deciding if a fetus is less than human.

The next difference is environment.
The fetus is in the womb, while a newborn child is outside the womb. Does this make it less than human because it has not yet changed it's location? We change our location every day, going to work, getting in the car, going outside, coming inside. At no time does our change in location make us less than human. In that case does a 7 inch journey down the birth canal magically transform a non-human mass of flesh into a newborn person? Of course not.
Environment can not logically be a factor in deciding if a fetus is less than human.

The final difference is level of dependency.
A fetus is depended on it's mother's body and can not be seperated from it, while a newborn needs only milk and a diaper. Does this make it less than human? A newborn is more dependand than a 10 year old child. Is the newborn less than human? There are elderly, and severly injured people who depend on machines and medication, are they less than human? Is a person not a person when the person's body is no longer self sustaining? Of course not.
So level of dependency is not a logical factor in determining if a fetus is human.

Therefore, there is no logical reason to call a fetus less than human. And if the fetus can not be proven to be less than human, then killing it is murder.