How were Old Testament Saints saved?

Galatians 3:8, “And the Scripture foreseeing that God would justify the  Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, In you all the nations shall be blessed.”

Romans 4:3b says, “Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”       

The above text was originally recorded in Genesis 15:6 by Moses.

Romans 4:3b and Genesis 15:6 is synonymous with II Corinthians 5:21, “He (Jesus) who knew no sin became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

What all three verses declare is that when the sinner believes the word of God, God places His righteousness in the sinner’s account; God treats them as if they had never sinned. Here we  see the congruence between the OT and NT.

Old Testament Saints were saved or justified by their faith in the word of God just like New Testament Saints are. The difference is that the OT Saints were looking ahead to the cross, whereas NT Saints look back at the cross. The cross is the epicenter for all the redeemed whether an Old or New Testament believer.

When Jesus died on the cross, He paid for the OT Saints past sins which was on credit. Jesus sacrifice paid their debt. For NT Saints He paid for our sins which were all future.

In Isaiah 6:5-7 we read about Isaiah regarding himself when he sees the glory of the Lord, “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of people with unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of Hosts. Then one of the seraphim flew to me having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it and said: “Behold this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is purged.”

Here we see the Lord pardoning Isaiah’s sin so that he could be fit to be the Lord’s prophet which tradition tells us he was for 60 years.

King David knew of the pardoning of sins by the Lord for he said, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom does not impute iniquity (Psalm 32:1-2). “

 David comes from a different angle in that he mentions the effect first; one believing (forgiveness of sins), but the logical conclusion is that if one’s sins have been forgiven, they have been justified (saved) by God who is the righteous cause. 

Jeremiah 31:31-34 says, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:

 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord:

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more .”

This new covenant the Lord will make with Israel has also been called the everlasting covenant because it is a permanent covenantal relationship with the children of Israel which will ultimately result in her salvation. This covenant parallels the relationship Jesus has with the church; NT believers.

In conclusion, all those who God has declared righteous look for a complete redemption; that is when we are glorified. The OT Saints like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the prophets, et al died not seeing the promise fulfilled in their lifetime, but by faith realized it afar off for it had been promised to them (Hebrews 11:39-40).

We too look for that final redemption so we persevere in faith, believing the promises of God knowing as each day passes, we are nearer to our salvation than when we first believed (Romans 13:11).

  

The Bible and slavery

To all, these are mutually opposed realities. They should never be paired in the same phrase most would say. But, does the Bible condone slavery in any way? The answer is yes. Bible translators uses the word servant in place of slave because of the negative connation the word slave has. The word servant contains several meanings. Two of those meanings in the Greek language are: doulos, meaning “in bondage”. It also means to be in subjection without bondage. The verb form of doulos is douloo which means “to enslave to bring into bondage”

Because of the horrendous, evil slave trade enterprise of blacks by whites, the Trans Atlantic Slave trade/Middle Passage of the last few centuries along with the inhumane treatment of blacks slaves by white slave masters in America, the reality of slavery in the Bible is abhorrent by all people. That is why many people do not believe the Bible because they automatically assume the slavery that was permitted in scripture was the same harsh servitude that occurred against our black ancestors centuries ago and as recently as last century; the early 1900’s.

The Bible has never condoned harsh treatment of any innocent human beings. It has never endorsed human trafficking. It definitely hates racial slavery. The Bible has never approved of subjugation of a race because of their ethnicity or skin color. God indeed made all men equal. For we are all made in His image (Genesis 1:26).

                        

  

                          What the Bible says about the master-slave relationship

Exodus 21:2-6 says: When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh year he shall go out free, for nothing. If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out alone. But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever.

Deuteronomy 15:12-18 says: “If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year, you shall let him go free from you. And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. As the Lord your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today. But if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household since he is well-off with you, then you shall take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant forever.

This Deuteronomy passage is a recitation of the Exodus 22 passage before it.

Leviticus 25:39-43 says, “If your brother becomes poor beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave: he shall be with you as a hired servant and as a sojourner (italics mine). He shall serve with you until the year of the jubilee. Then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and go back to his own clan and return to the possession of his fathers. For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as slaves. You shall not rule over him ruthlessly but shall fear your God (italics are mine).

When someone became destitute and was not able to meet their financial obligations, they would sell themselves with their family (if they had one) to someone with means. The purchaser was not to treat his own countrymen like a slave but as a hired servant.  In the seventh year, they were allowed to go free with resources from their master.

Proverbs 17:2 says, “A servant who deals wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers.

Here we see that a wise slave would be treated as well as a member of his master’s own family.

Deuteronomy 24:7 “If a man is found stealing one of his brothers of the people of Israel, and if he treats him as a slave or sells him, then that thief shall die. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.”

Kidnapping, human trafficking was a violation of Hebrew law; punishable by death. It was forbidden to sell a brother or sister as a slave and gain a profit.

In Matthew 20:25-28 Jesus, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give His life a ransom for many.”

Jesus, in essence, is saying the way to the top is humility, serving God and your fellow man willingly. That’s when a person gains praiseworthy recognition. Not for who he/she is, but what he/she does that is righteous.

Colossians 4:1 declares this, “Masters grant your slaves justice and fairness knowing that you too have a Master in heaven.

Ephesians 6:5-9 is dealing with the employer-employee relationship, “Slaves be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart as to Christ; not by way of eye service as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart. With goodwill render service as to the Lord and not to men knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord whether slave or free. And masters do the same things to them and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours are in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.”

Both parties are required to be faithful in their roles for both have a Master in heaven to whom they must give an account.

I Peter 2:18 says, “Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.”

Romans 6:16-18 says, “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.”

What the Apostle Paul is declaring here is that in this sense-regarding good and evil, the whole world is in slavery no matter your status in life. You are either a slave to sin or to righteousness. Whichever one you serve is your master. No one alive can escape this reality.

                                                               

                                               Conclusion

The aforementioned proves without any doubt that the slavery mentioned in the Bible was under the providence of God almighty. Nothing like the inhumane slavery that was allowed here in America and other countries where blacks and others were treated worse than a beast of burden. As a matter of fact, scripture says salvifically we are all one in Christ Jesus whether one is a slave or free (Galatians 3:28).

When the Bible commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves, that would include those who were hired servants and slaves (Leviticus 19:18; John 13:35; I John 3:11; 4:7).

Jesus God incarnate humbled Himself and became a servant doing only what pleased the Father. For Jesus said, “for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me (John 6:38)”. Jesus willingly submitted himself as a slave. Like or not, we must do the same. The question is, “who or what are you going to serve?” Remember what or whoever you obey, is who you are a slave to.

Is God fatalistic; Where does evil come from?

In Him (Christ) we have obtained an inheritance, having predestined according to the purpose of Him who works  all  things according to the counsel of his own will.

                                                                                                                                                       -Ephesians 1:11

 

Isaiah 46:10 says this of God, “declaring the end from the beginning (emphasis added), and from the ancient times things not yet done, saying my counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose”.

The despot Gentile King of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar declared to the known world at that time  regarding the sovereignty of God, “all the inhabitants of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does according to His will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay His hand or say to Him, “What have you done?” (Daniel 4:35).

Regarding the judgment on the nation of Assyria Isaiah says this, “The Lord of hosts has sworn as I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand” (Isaiah 14:24).

The lot is cast into the lap, but it’s very decision is from the Lord (Proverbs 16:33).

Proverbs 21:1 says, “The King’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, and as the rivers of water, He turns it whichever way He chooses”.

These verses clearly tell us is that God is a determinative being. He does not leave anything to “chance” or “luck”. As a matter of fact, neither of these things exist in God’s economy. Chance and luck are two phantoms, apparitions, false gods that many worship when gambling in Las Vegas, or playing the Lotto – scratch offs.

Chance and luck are two non personal man-made forces that humans hang their mental and emotional  hats on to hope for a positive outcome. It’s the case of the classic song, “Que Sera Sera” – “What ever will be will be”! That is fatalism or indeterminism.

Those who do not believe in/or trust in the Lord only have chance and luck to lean on; so in essence they have nothing, because chance and luck are nothing. Something or someone has to exist to have causality in the universe and since chance and luck are nothing, they can cause nothing to occur.

Someone has called God the “Uncaused-Cause”. What that means is God is eternal, nothing created God because He is self existent, and that everything that has happened and will happen is by His divine decree – alone.

So, in answering the question, “Is God a fatalist?” The answer is an emphatic no!

To be a fatalist God would have to be a casual impotent observer of the events of life. He would have to be dependent on “the fates”, or chance and/or luck. He would have to be at the crap table rolling dice and relying on non existent forces to determine His outcome. He would not be the direct cause of whatever comes to pass in this world.

There are plenty of objections to God being not only in control of all things, but the author of everything that occurs.

 

Is Predestination fatalism? If God has predetermined the destiny of all things, how are my choices really free?

 

It is a massive mistake to pair predestination with fatalism. Why? Well, once again fate is a man-made-ghost; in religious terms idolatry, a false god. Things do not happen by chance, good or bad luck, or by coincidence. Just because we can not make sense of so many things that happen in life, does not mean they were not pre-planned in the mind of God. Of course, this idea of predestination becomes a thorn in our side when it comes to all the evil that occurs everyday. Humans look at sick and hungry children in the world and declare it sad, evil and bad luck. Senseless wars as God not being in control. For if He were in control, why would He allow  or cause such horrific things to occur? These calamities are why many choose to disbelieve in God.

So, for most of the world, it is better for them to resolve in their minds that God exists, but  is not in control of all things; He is just a casual observer[i], or that He does not exist at all and everything is left  to blind, ignorant chance; the sovereign deity and object of worship of unregenerate humanity.

Predestination on the other hand exists because of an antecedent cause; that cause is God Almighty. Predestination could never exist without God, so certainly predestination and fatalism could never be related. Fatalism isn’t even dead. It essentially was never conceived and born except in the minds of sinful men which are reprobate (Romans 1:28).

What is the meaning of predestination? Well the prefix “Pre” means before. Destination means and end of a journey or basically where someone is headed. So, in relation to God when it comes to all things, God has predetermined them; that is before time, God determined all things that will ever occur, good and evil.

Okay, I must now answer the question, “Are our choices free if God has already determined what is going to happen?” The answer I give may not satisfy the reader, but I will give I hope a thoughtful reply to a valid, and very difficult question.

The problem with almost everyone’s definition of free is that we believe we have free choice without divine intervention or interruption. We want freedom indiscriminately without responsibility or accountability. The writer of Proverbs says this, “the heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps” (Proverbs 16:9). Simply put, nothing is done in this life without God’s direct or indirect involvement.  We all have the ability to freely choose, but that does not mean that God can not intervene to navigate a change in that choice in the direction He wants it to go.

So yet again, the opponent of this reasoning will say, “since God has determined already what will be, why does it matter what I do? I can’t change my direction in life anyway”.

That is not true. We change our minds daily, yet God being omniscient knew we would change our minds on a multitude of decisions in our lives. As a matter of fact, God has weaved the changing of our minds to freely choose another path into his overall plan. God not only knows what we will actually do, He knows the multitudes of things we ever think about doing. God knows all things actual, and possible.

The heart of the matter is God’s sovereignty and human responsibility. We have to discover how to keep these two realities in their proper tension. For instance, just because God has decreed everything that will come to pass does not absolve man the responsibility to obey God’s commands.

We read in Psalm 41:9 the prediction of Judas betraying the Lord by David nearly 1,000 years before Christ came to the earth. The fulfillment of this prophecy occurs in John 13:18 at the Last Supper before Jesus is crucified. Now, the question would be raised by many, “how could Judas be blamed for betraying Jesus when it was predetermined by God  that he would”?

Judas acted as a free moral agent. Yet he chose to consciously sin and betray Jesus. God used Judas as his instrument of betrayal of his Son so that He could be crucified and die for His people. For that is why Jesus came (Matt 1:21; Luke 19:10). But, that in no way makes Judas less culpable for his act of treachery. What Judas did, he did for evil, but God used Judas sin and evil for good (Genesis 50:20).

The result of Judas betrayal  led to Jesus crucifixion which ultimately led to the salvation of innumerous souls.

Our choices are always free. By virtue of the fact that we have the ability to choose is freedom. God has not prohibited our free choice because he has pre-planned all of destiny. But, what we must understand is that our choices are always subservient to God’s choices, and sense God already knows all the choices we will ever make, He already before time circumvented any choice that would deviate from (if possible) His master plan. Even our willful sins are woven somehow into God’s ultimate will and purpose. Nothing we do catches God off guard. If that is not free choice, I do not know what is.

            

                    So if God is using evil to accomplish His plans, does that make God the author of evil?

 

In the book of James we read, “Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted by God, for God can not be tempted with evil, and He Himself tempts no one. But, each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire or lust” (James 1:13-14).

God is not the creator of evil. Evil is not a created thing. It is simply the absence of good like darkness is the absence of light. God mysteriously ordained evil in His overall plan.  Let me be clear, God Himself is not evil. Evil denotes wickedness, maliciousness, depravity, et al.  These descriptions encompass people and the evil that they do.  Evil believe or not serves God. He uses evil in the overall fulfilling of his plan on earth. God uses evil for good which is antithetical to it’s nature. Remember the words of Paul in Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, those who are called according to His purpose”.

Evil is never good, but evil in the hands of God will serve good purposes because God is good. God uses the evil men do to fulfill His will. Men choose  to commit evil, but God never approves of it. God grants the allowance of evil, because we are free moral agents, able to make choices, but that does not mean God has authorized or approved the evil that men do in any way. He hates it, and for his holiness sake, He must judge it.

We see that clearly in the Garden of Eden. God commanded Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.[ii] For God said, in the day you eat of it you will surely die (Genesis 2:16-17). Adam freely chose to disobey God and eat. Adam’s choosing to sin was never approved by God that Is why his sin along with Eve’s were judged and they were expelled from the Garden (Genesis 3:24).

I like to think of it this way, if evil did not exist, we would be robots; we would be good by default without the ability to choose between good and evil. We would be emotionless creatures. There would have been no need to send Jesus Christ to die for our sins because there would have been no evil.  That  was never the  plan of God.  God decided in eternity past for sin to pollute the entire human race so that He could show the extreme wonders of His grace, and glorify himself (Eph 1:7;2:6-7). Yes, that was God’s plan.

Paul said in Romans 5:20a, “where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more”. The virtue of good is far greater than the force of evil.      

                                                                                  Conclusion

God is purposeful, not fatalistic. He created His plan in eternity past and by the means of His providence[iii] is fulfilling  His plan day by day. God does not leave things to chance, luck or fate. As mentioned earlier, those are man-made deities that do not exist. Evil is outside of God, but unfortunately evil is in man due to original sin. Man inherited an evil nature as a result of that sinful act by Adam. Where did evil come from? The Bible actually does not tell us; it’s a mystery. Some would say it came from Lucifer. The Bible says that iniquity was found in him (i.e. the devil, Ezekiel 28:15; Isaiah 14:14), not that sin or evil originated from him. The best definition I can give for evil is the absence of what is good, righteous and pure.  It is the residence of wickedness living in you.  Evil  is anti-God. God deals with evil every time He deals with us so God knowing we would fall, because He ordained the fall also ordained the evil that we would be burdened with all our lives. Let’s be honest, the idea that God deals with evil this way naturally disturbs us, but this is how He has chosen to deal with sinful mankind.

These truths transcend the mind. Here is our saving grace. Here’s the doxology:

“Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became his counselor? Or, who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to Him again? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things (emphasis added). To Him be the glory forever. Amen (Romans 11:33-36)!

  

NOTES

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[i] The idea that God is not in control or author of all things is a heresy known as Openness Theology.

Meaning God is “open”. God in this view does not know things until they occur like humans.

This would also mean God is bound by time. This view is blasphemous because it robs God of one of his

Essential attributes; omniscience. If God is not omniscient, then he is not God.

 

[ii] This Genesis 2 reference lets us know that evil (at least conceptually) existed due to fact that there was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This proves that evil existed before man was created. God created everything before He created man on day 6.

 

[iii] Providence is the means by which God ensures the fulfilling of His overall plan in the earth through human choice and through the natural order of  things. When God decides to directly bend the natural orders of things to fulfill His plan, that is what we call miracles.

The demand of hatred

If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes and even his own life can not be My disciple.

-          Luke 14:26

 

The word hate means to feel hostility or animosity toward. To detest.  The Greek verb is miseō; having malicious and unjustifiable feelings toward others, whether toward the innocent or by mutual animosity.

So, is this what Jesus is commanding us to do? Hate our loved ones and our own lives too? Doesn’t this command seem way too harsh, extreme, contradictory to other parts of scripture? Don’t we read in other places where Jesus commands us to honor our mother and father, to love one another; even our enemies? To Jesus live audience this must have seemed like a mixed message. How would you feel if in one speech Jesus is commanding you to love, and in another speech He is commanding us to hate our family and even our own lives?

                What’s goin here?

Jesus definitely isn’t contradicting himself. We are definitely commanded to honor our mother and father, and to love one another (Ex 20:12; John 13:34; Eph 6:1-3; I John 2:7-11; 3:10-12; 4:7-10, 20,21).

As a matter of fact, Jesus said to hate someone is murderous at heart (Matt 5:21-22).

John said that one that hates his brother is a murderer at heart and no murderer has  eternal life abiding in him (I John 3:15).

Once again Jesus is teaching hyperbolically. He is using superlative language to drive home His point. He wants His listeners to know the extreme cost required to follow Him. We as Christians must pursue God with all our being. We must be willing to give up our rights even at the expense of our families and own lives if God requires it for His glory. If we are unwilling to hate or love-less our families for the Excellency that is in Jesus Christ, then we are not worthy to follow Him.

Our pursuit of the Lord has to be so intense that everything else MUST pale in comparison. Jesus wisely used the comparison between Him and family because these are who we love the very most in life.

Jesus is making it crystal clear that family although most precious to us is far less important than our salvation, and our commitment to Him.

To hate in this context  of discipleship is to prefer one thing or person over another; it’s to show less love or disregard for one’s parents and family relative to the love and demand of Jesus Christ to come and follow Him. We see this is what the disciples did.

Jesus called Simon called Peter and Andrew to follow Him. They abandoned their nets for they were fisherman, and followed him (Matt 18-20).

Jesus called James and his brother John. They were also fisherman with their father Zebedee. They left their boat and father and followed Christ.

Jesus commanded Matthew the tax collector who was filthy rich (literally) to follow Him. Matthew left his post at the tax office,  got up and followed the Lord.

These three accounts are visual live demonstrations of the hate concept Jesus described in Luke 14:26.

In each instance these men were willing to deny themselves, set their families at a lower priority than that of Jesus Christ.

We must ask ourselves the question, “Are we?”  Or, did we get saved for mere “Fire Insurance”  (i.e. to escape hell)?

 

 

Do all go to a better place?

I recently read a story where a father asked his young son, “ Do you know where you are going when you die?” The son replied, “Yes. I would go to heaven.” The Father asked his son a second question, “If you were to die tonight and God asked you why should I let you into my heaven what would be your answer?” The son answered immediately, “Because I’m dead!”

Do we see the logic in the child’s response? From his understanding of these questions, he believed that a person automatically goes to heaven when they die. Why did the son respond the way he did? It would be safe to say the reality of hell had never been taught to him.

This boy like most people (this includes many in the church) believe in what someone called Justification by death.  A more popular way to say it is Universalism – meaning that everyone is automatically saved when they die.  This is a novel idea, an emotionally comforting one especially when loved ones and friends die. It makes us feel better to believe that they are with their maker because we are now bereaved of them in this life. The pain of their loss is tragic so we take comfort that they are now in the arms of Jesus (we believe/hope).

Those loved ones who have passed on that genuinely professed Jesus Christ, loved him, and loved God’s people, and served the Lord in Spirit and truth, remained faithful to the call of God in their lives, bore visible fruit are definitely in heaven casting down their crown(s) before God Almighty and their Messiah Jesus Christ (Rev 4:10). Praise God for those warriors!

But, this will not be the testimony of most people who will ever walk this earth. Let me prove it.

These are the words of Jesus when preaching his sermon on the mountain, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life and there are few  who find it” - Matt 7:13-14 (italics are mine).

In laymen’s terms, Jesus is giving us two pictures here. The first picture is the person that tries to get to heaven on their own. They go to church, they feed the poor, visit the sick, they are in the choir, they tithe. They are what some would call a religious fanatic. Others would say they are a dedicated Christian. So what is their problem? They appear to be doing all the right things. They are kind to people, they have a smile that lights up the room.

Their problem is that they are a modern day Pharisee. Everything they do is for the praise of men (Matt 6:5-8a). They love to be seen by men and love their adulation (praise of men). They are self righteous. They have no humility. All their activity is religious externalism. They are deed-oriented. They figure if they do enough “good deeds” as juxtapose to their sins, they will earn God’s favor and make it into heaven (i.e. the wide gate that’s marked “heaven”).

This person’s heart is not right before God. We can’t see it, but God does. What is important to realize is that not everyone going to hell is as rotten as they can possibly be. Multitudes go that are law abiding, caring, generous, thoughtful souls who wouldn’t harm a butterfly. Some of these people have better ethics than some Christians sad to say. It even seems disrespectful to describe them in these terms; that they will be eternally lost.

                This will be most of the world. We just heard Jesus tell us (Matt 7:13).

As much as we may hate to humanly admit it, “good religious people”  go to hell everyday, and irreligious, scandalous, adulterers  murderers, thieves, liars, prostitutes and homosexuals go to heaven.

                Now that doesn’t seem fair at all does it?

Obviously I am not advocating that all the people mentioned above always fit into these same categories in the way I described them, but what I am trying to show is that those who we believe are “good”  are  often evil in God's eyes. And those who are actually evil definitely are not good, but they have been declared righteous by their faith in Jesus Christ ( 2 Cor 5:21). Those wicked people mentioned above know they are wicked, sinful, and lost and are in need of salvation so God saves them and forgives them of their sins (Eph 2:8-9).

They are that tax collector who went to the temple broken and contrite in spirit and said, ‘God be merciful to me a sinner!” (Luke 18:13).

                These like the tax collector are the few (i.e. that enter the narrow gate).

Simply put, in Jesus own words, there will be more people headed to hell than those headed to heaven.       

                Tragic yet true.

                                                                   In the final Analysis

This idea of everyone going to heaven when they die is untrue. As we read in scripture most people will go to hell. Very discomforting thought.

Why even write a morbid article like this especially at this time of the year? Some may see this as extremely offensive and insensitive. That certainly was not my intent. The Bible commands us to speak the truth in love which is what I have endeavored to do with all my articles (Eph 4:15). Often times the truth hurts, it cuts like a knife, but the truth of the Word of God is what sets men free (John 8:32).

The antithesis of this is bondage and lies. When someone believes in justification by death, then they are bound by the lie of Universalism; believing that all will go to heaven. Only those that truly put their trust in Jesus Christ will see the kingdom of God (John 3:3).  Those that put their trust in their own abilities will  NEVER get to heaven for  by no works of the law will no man be justified in His sight (Gal 2:16-17; Rom 4:2; Titus 3:4-6).

Concluding, the scripture plainly tells us many do not go to a better place when they die. Why? “Because men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19b).

It’s also a fallacy  I believe that those loved ones who have actually gone on to glory are looking down from heaven watching over us. There is no biblical support for that type of belief. Think about it? If they are in heaven where there is perfect bliss, why would they want to look down on the life of sin they just left? They are in the very presence of the Father and Jesus Christ! There is nothing they can do for their living relatives anyway. If you are in Christ, you will definitely see them again (I Thess 4:13-18).

Women saved in childbearing

Yet she will be saved in childbearing – if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self control.

  -I Timothy 2:15

 

To understand the aforementioned passage we need to start at verse 8 to verse 15 to get the whole flow of thought.

The Apostle Paul speaking says, “I desire that in every place that men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or quarreling (some versions say without wrath and doubting); likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel with modesty and self control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper of women who profess godliness – with good works. Let the women learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather she is to remain quiet.[i] For Adam was created first then Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor (of the command of God not to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil; Gen 3:6-7). The key verse, Yet she shall be saved through child bearing – if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self control or sobriety (I Tim 2:8-15).

Paul here is explaining to Pastor Timothy his son in the faith the conduct and roles of men and women in the church. Paul was giving instructions to Timothy who was the Pastor of the church in Ephesus in Asia Minor which is modern Turkey today.

When Paul says women will be saved in childbearing, he is not talking about salvation of the soul. Because if he were, we run into two problems. 1) It would undermine the clear teaching  of justification by faith (Hab 2:4; Rom 5:1; Eph 2:8-9). 2) It would mean that some women could never be saved because not all women bear children. Salvation by childbearing is a human work, and no human work could ever merit the grace of God (Rom 3:19-20).

So what is Paul talking about here? The woman (Eve) committed the first act of sin in the earth when she ate the forbidden fruit. It must be pointed out that several things led up to this:

a.       She was tempted by the serpent who caused her to doubt God’s word (Gen 3:1).

b.      She listened to the lie she was told by the serpent; by listening to the enemy she focused more on the prohibition of God than his provision. The serpent deceived her into thinking God was not benevolent. We could imagine the devil saying to Eve, “ Why would God put this tree with this beautiful fruit in the garden if He didn’t intend for you to eat it”(Gen 3:5).

c.       By harkening to the serpent she usurped and ignored the authority and protection of her husband who ate with her thus plunging the entire human race into sin (Gen 3:6-7).

 

 As a result of her disobedience God pronounced a lifelong  punishment  upon  Eve and all mothers. God said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you” (Gen 3:16).

So Paul is using the Genesis 3 account of Adam and Eve and their roles; how they were misused, and linking them (Adam and Eve), to the role of the man and woman in the church. Although the woman sinned first in the garden, God has not abandoned her. She is the vessel God has chosen to bear godly children through provided she continues in faith, and love and holiness with self control. Paul reminds the woman in 1 Tim 2:15.

So in that sense women are saved, delivered  or preserved by God in bearing children. It is His perpetual covenant with the woman that although she will deliver with tremendous pain due to Eve’s sin, she will soon have great joy because she has borne a child from the Lord (Gen 4:1).  Psalm 127:3 says, “Behold children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward”.  This is the role of the woman, to bear children; for this is a perpetual reminder; of original sin because of the  pain, but  also God’s grace due to his preservation of women with the blessing of child bearing.

 

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[i]Regarding the matter of women speaking in the church read my article on “Men and Women roles in ministry to get  detailed explanation of this subject

Imputation Bad vs. Good

Imputation by definition means: the act of placing something into one’s account. To lay something to one’s charge.

 Imputation is the effect of a prior cause; some act someone has committed.

In the Bible we deal with imputation negatively and positively.

            Let’s begin with the negative.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, their act of sin was imputed, reckoned or charged to everyone of their descendants, the entire human race. Since we were all in the loins of Adam when he sinned, we in God’s eyes are guilty and condemned before we were ever born!

            Guilty by association to our father Adam.

Remember God told Adam specifically, “the day you eat of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil, you will die” (Gen 2:17).  Death was the result of disobedience to the command of God. The scripture says when Adam died (spiritually and eventual physical death), we all died (Rom 5:12). We were born dead as a result of Adam’s sin (Eph 2:1; Col 2:13).

David realized this truth when he confessed his sin of adultery and murder to the Lord in Psalm 51. David said, “Behold I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5). David recognized that he was a sinner by nature even before he sinned experientially.

We are not sinners because of what we do, we are sinners because of who we are – by nature. As a result of our sinful nature inherited from our parents all the way back to our first parents Adam and Eve, we commit sin. This proves that we deserve condemnation; we do the same things our first father did, we disobey God.

In Romans 5:19a we read, “For by one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners…”.

What this verse explains is that Adam’s sin was charged against us by God due to the fact we were in  Adam when the sin occurred. Seems like a raw deal, all of the human race being made guilty by the act of one man’s trespass, but that is how our sovereign Lord decided He would punish sin – by imputation.

           Don’t despair reader, their is a wonderful solution to this horrific dilemma.

As we look at  imputation positively, we go back to Romans 5:19 and look at the second part of the verse which reads, “by the act of one man’s obedience many will be made righteous” (Rom 5:19b).

Obviously the act of obedience being discussed here is the loving act of the Lord Jesus dying on the cross and shedding his blood for sin. In Philippians 2:8 it reads, “And being in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

In Romans 5:19 the writer Paul is explaining to his readers just as one man’s disobedience made all sinners, one man’s obedience will make many righteous once they believe. Imputation is a double edged sword, cutting to the soul both negatively and positively. Those of us who are in Christ righteousness has been imputed, reckoned or deposited to our account. Our sins are no longer counted against us thanks to the obedience of the last Adam.

We read some wonderful truths in the following passages of scripture regarding imputation:

“For since it was through a man that death came into the world, it is also through a man that the resurrection of the dead has come. For just as (because of their union in nature) in Adam all people die, so also (by virtue of their union of nature) shall all in Christ be made alive” (I Cor 15:21-22) Amplified.

Further along in the chapter we read, “The first Adam became a living being (an individual personality), the last Adam (Christ) became a life giving Spirit (Restoring the dead to life)” (I Cor 15:45) Amplified.

 Another account of imputation we read is in Isaiah 6. When Isaiah sees the glory of the Lord he is overcome with the shame of his own guilt and sin, "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!"

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for" (Isaiah 6:5-6, Esv).

                                                            
                                                                  Conclusion

 

Being that Adam was our representative in the earth, we received the benefits he received such as dominion over the earth, the benefit of a will, emotions, companionship etc,  and we had to receive the punishment of his sin which is death. Many have debated the idea that the rest of mankind should not have to suffer for one man’s sin. We cry “THAT’S NOT FAIR!” If we are honest if Adam and Eve had not sinned, one of their descendants would have down the line once the devil tempted one of them with another lie and plunged the world into sin and death anyway.

The message then turns evangelistic due to the fact that Jesus Christ reversed the curse of death, and now has provided the way to everlasting life to those who choose to believe in Him. We can now partake of a divine nature to replace the sinful nature (2 Peter 1:4).

There is a incredible contrast with these two men. With the first Adam sin was imputed due to natural birth. With the last Adam righteousness was imputed to due re-birth. With the first Adam humiliation due to sin, with the last Adam exaltation due to cleansing of sin.

With the first Adam we were written in Hell’s most wanted list, with the last Adam are names are written in heaven’s list (Luke 11:20).

The writer’s proverb: “The righteous can approach the throne because of the blood, the wicked are despised because of the blood they shed.”