Salvation and the Last Days

When it is all said and done, and in fact BEFORE it's all said and done, this gospel is ALL ABOUT JESUS! I would ask for "a big amen," but I know that everyone reading this has already said that. At least I certainly hope so. Yes it is surely is all about Jesus and about everything he has done for you, me, and everyone else, so as to provide for us the hope of eternal salvation. So seeing that it IS all about Jesus, let's look at something that is ultra simplistic, and then let's understand some things that need to happen in order for God's people to move into the end time and the second coming of the Lord. If it's all about Jesus then let's agree on a VERY big Bible fact. I'm going to quote a scripture here that is totally unique in that it says something about Jesus that no other scripture tells us. Here it is: "Now the Lord IS that Spirit" (II Cor. 3:17). Okay, if your studious you will notice that it is only half of a scripture, but that is enough because it is certain that the second half of the scripture says nothing to contradict the first half. And if you are studious and also a frequent reader of these posts, you may realize that I quote that particular scripture in many of my articles. There is a very good reason for that. Like I said, there is no other scripture that says, "Now the Lord IS that ______." Jesus is in heaven at the right hand of his Father, but he sent back the holy Ghost to take his place when he went away, as the following passage shows us: "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; [which] the world cannot receive, because it seeth [it] not, neither knoweth [it]: but ye know [it]; for [it] dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you" (Jn. 14:16-18). There it is; Jesus plainly referred to the Spirit of God as himself, saying that HE would come to his disciples by means of the Spirit coming. He also stated several verses after this that the holy Ghost would be sent back from heaven "in [his] name" (Jn. 14:26). What that means is that the Spirit was sent back "in his stead," or instead of him. And what THAT means is that there is absolutely NO PRESENCE of Jesus in this world OTHER THAN the holy Ghost! There is irrefutably NOTHING that can be received or partaken of in this world, that pertains to the Lord Jesus Christ, other than the Spirit which he sent back after he went away (Jn. 16:7). Now that brings me full circle here about this gospel being ONLY ABOUT JESUS. Due to what we have seen here from the scriptures, whatever we choose to serve God in, or worship him by; is either the holy Ghost, or it is falsehood. Otherwise we have to say that this gospel is about Jesus, and about some other stuff too. But the truth of the matter is once again that it IS ALL ABOUT JESUS, and NOT about ANY OTHER stuff. And what that means is that we need to discard ALL of the other stuff that is NOT about Jesus, and cleave to the Spirit of truth that he sent back for us to cleave to. It is the 'other stuff' that God's people have been erroneously taught to recognize as pertaining to Jesus, that is holding down, dividing, and crippling the body of Christ; making it unable to go forward in the unifying power and love of the Lord Jesus.

So here it is: There is NOWHERE in the scriptures where we find, "Now the Lord is that water." Neither is there ANY scripture that states, "Now the Lord is that bread [or cracker]." Nor does anything in the Bible say, "Now the Lord is that wine [or grape juice.]" Yes I am talking about water baptism and the so called "communion" service. Both of these ordinances are from the old testament, and were of the law (Mat. 5:17; Mat. 3:15; Mat. 26:19,29; Lk. 22:15,16). I hope you have read these referenced scriptures because they show that these ordinances were of the law, and also that Jesus came to FULFILL them. Jesus fulfilled these ordinances of the law for the same reason that he fulfilled EVERY ordinance of the law, and that was so that HE could become EVERYTHING to God's people. The apostle Paul explained that "Christ OUR PASSOVER is sacrificed for us" (I Cor. 5:7). He also explained that it is JESUS that has to baptize each and every soul with his Spirit, in order for them to be a member of his spiritual body on earth (I Cor. 12:13). Those carnal ceremonies only SYMBOLIZED what Jesus would fulfill for us after a spiritual order, and he IS that fulfillment. To continue with these ordinances is to in effect say that Jesus has NOT fulfilled these things, and that we are still looking for him to come and do so. When something is fulfilled it is taken away and replaced by that which fulfills, which in this case is Jesus through the Spirit (Jn. 3:30; Heb. 8:13). When someone is baptized with the holy Ghost with the accompanying sign of speaking in tongues, they are as complete as they can possibly be, because they have literally received Jesus into themselves, by means of his Spirit (Col. 2:10; Gal 3:3). When we add ceremonial works to that equation, we are certainly saying that having Christ in us does NOT make us complete (Gal. 3:3; Gal. 5:4; Col. 2:16,17). And in fact NOBODY has received Jesus into themselves UNTIL they are baptized with the Spirit, because "the Lord IS that Spirit." That is the way it was in the Bible, and "Jesus Christ [is] the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Heb. 13:8). Nobody in the Bible ever "got saved," or "accepted the Lord as their personal savior." They did however believe on Jesus and were baptized with his Spirit as the result of believing (Jn. 7:38,39; Acts 2:4; Acts 5:32; Acts 10:44-46; I Cor. 12:13). The ONLY way to obey Jesus is to repent, believe on him, receive his Spirit; and walk therein after receiving it (Mk. 1:7,8; Acts 1:4,5; Gal. 5:16; Col. 2:6). As long as we accept natural ordinances in our worship and service of the Lord, we are disesteeming Jesus and everything he's done for us. The fact of the matter is, he actually died and rose so that he could do away with sin, and with the system of worship that demonstrated that we were still IN sin, and not joined to him and his Father (Eph. 2:15; Col. 2:14; Heb. 9:8,9). I say that Jesus is worthy of ALL honor and glory, and that he should not have to share it with "dead works" that never gave life, and in reality are dead and buried (Gal. 3:21; Rom. 7:2-4,6; Gal. 2:19). It is absolute confusion to uphold these long dead works, and it is also a "frustration [of] the grace of God" (Gal. 2:21). If we really want to prove that Jesus is truly everything to us, then we need to throw these extra weights overboard; for surely they are helping to sink the ship of the body of Christ that we seek to journey from here to glory in. Amen.