The Christian faith is easy to understand

【Whisper of the Shepherd】12

Lots of questions

Before I believed in the Lord, I tried to read the Bible, which was given to me by my mother. I stopped after reading two or three pages. I couldn’t read it, and I couldn’t read on. I was filled with hundreds of doubts about my faith. The wonderful thing is that from the moment I believed in the Lord, many problems naturally disappeared. Within three months, I read the New and Old Testaments in one breath, and I still understood them quite clearly. In the next forty-five winters and summers of my life, I studied theology, attended conferences, served as a pastor, preached, and wrote. I read the Bible over and over again, and continued to explore and explore the truth. It was not until recently that what I believed in along the way became clearer and clearer. I found that not only was the Christian faith not difficult to understand, it was actually very simple. I finally understood, "What a joy and a relief!" (What a joy and a relief!)

Many people ask: Isn’t God love? Why was the God of the Old Testament so cruel and harsh? Why am I still going through so much suffering? Isn’t salvation free? Why does God still require so much after believing in the Lord? I have decided to accept Jesus. If I still sin, can I still be saved and go to heaven? Doesn’t it mean “once saved always saved”? In Christ, I have died, been buried, and resurrected with the Lord. Now that I am alive, I am a new creation and a saint. But I still sin and suffer more than before. In this way, am I reborn?

From the perspective of cancer cells, surgery is cruel; however, from the perspective of the whole body, surgery is good and beneficial to the body, and it is done out of love. People are completely ignorant of heaven and hell, and have no concept of the future, but they wishfully use their limited minds and eyes to measure eternity. Of course, there is no solution.

Not long ago, I saw a scientific YouTube that explained several dimensions of space. It was very helpful to me: On the screen was a horizontal black strip, with red, green, blue, yellow, black, white and other colored lights appearing on it, with no rules. The ground lights up here and there, but you can't tell why. Then the camera moved from the side to the top. It turned out to be a pool table. The lights of each color just turned on when the ball hit the side. Some lights disappeared, which is actually a good thing, because it was the ball that went into the hole and scored, so there is no need to be sad! I suddenly understood: People can never understand the second dimension from one dimension! No amount of degrees will help. Therefore, it is more reasonable to believe in God’s words than to believe in man’s own limited understanding and observation!

The gospel of salvation VS the gospel of the kingdom

Sometimes we are confused about a problem because the premise is wrong, and the extension cannot be correct, so we are full of doubts about the things of God.

For example, we are concerned about salvation, but the Lord Jesus and John the Baptist never preached the "gospel of salvation" but the "gospel of the kingdom of heaven." And heaven is a place where God reigns as King. Once we believe in the Lord, we enter His kingdom, become His people, and obey the laws and regulations of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is not at all like raising our hands and making a decision, confessing Jesus, and then going our own way and waiting to go to heaven!

Many people are only worried about whether they can still be saved in this or that way - it seems that the most cost-effective thing is how to spend the least in exchange for salvation! This mentality is consistent with what Jesus taught: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Matthew 22:37-40) and “Whoever does not carry his cross and follow me can do nothing. My disciples” (Luke 14:25-35) is completely the opposite! Such people should not expect to receive anything from God. All Chinese people know: "If you take the Dharma, you will be in the middle. If you are not as good as you, you will be worse." Many people will regret it too late.

A consistent life

Jack Deere, a professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, said: "The spirit of religion is the enemy of revival. Substituting knowledge for life, substituting tradition for ability, substituting religious activities for the relationship with God." These have nothing to do with the kingdom of heaven. The parables of the wheat and the tares (refer to Matthew 13:36-43) and the parables of the sheep and goats (refer to Matthew 25:31-46) told by the Lord Jesus have made it very clear: we cannot only seek outward appearance. A Christian, but the life within is not at all the DNA of the Kingdom of God! It is this kind of people who stumble people, and it is also the scribes and Pharisees whom the Lord Jesus hates most.

Therefore, the Lord also said clearly: "Not everyone who calls me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; only he who does the will of my Father in heaven will enter." (Matthew 7:13-29) This passage is indeed harsh, but "a good tree bears good fruit, and a bad tree bears bad fruit" is not difficult to understand, right? Unless we deliberately don’t want to understand. People are so ignorant of God’s holiness and righteousness, yet they are surprisingly overconfident in their own righteousness!

The Kingdom of Heaven is not a pheasant university

The slogan "once saved always saved" is also a big joke, because people only care about whether they are "saved", but what God wants is not "saved and go to heaven", but "the kingdom of heaven". God is in control and is the overcomer! The prayer taught by the Lord Jesus is, "Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) It is on earth, not in heaven; it is today, not until the millennium. Year!

This makes it clear why Dean Lin Daoliang said, "'Believe in Jesus and go to heaven' is a cry from hell." May I ask, will those who believe in the Lord go to heaven? meeting! But is the purpose of salvation to go to heaven? no! If so, then you and I don’t need to be overcomers. We only need to wait for the train to heaven every week. Then we will be deceived by Satan, and our Heavenly Father will be sad!

God purchased us with the greatest price in the universe, the blood of His Son. He has a plan and we are His masterpiece (see Ephesians 2:10), and He is completing it. When He adopted us as sons, He did not want us to be spoiled kids, nor did He want us to be little babies who are still sucking their mouths and letting their fingers go when they are forty years old! Therefore, He causes all things to work together for good for those who love God (see Romans 8:28). All things include “good things” and “bad things” in our view, in order to train us to grow up and become suitable for kings. This can be understood Got it! I would like to ask, if I apply to a university, pay the tuition, but don’t study or pass the exam, can I get a diploma? Is the Kingdom of Heaven a school for pheasants? !

Those whose names are in the book of life can also be blotted out (refer to Revelation 3:5). Why? Because God hopes that everyone who registers will graduate, He gives grace. But God gives people free will, "Many are called, but few are chosen." (Matthew 22:14) Those who are unwilling have no choice but to not graduate. God does not force people, nor does He lower his standards. "The Kingdom of Heaven" He who works hard receives it.” (Matthew 11:12)

"I do" life to the end

It's like saying an oath to each other at a wedding. Is it enough to say "I do"? Never! It’s never about saying, “I did” one day, but “I do” all the time! The same goes for believing in the Lord and following the Lord. Ezekiel 18:21-29 couldn’t be more clear. The main idea is: If a wicked person turns from all his evil deeds and practices righteousness, all his sins will not be remembered. But if a righteous person turns away from his righteous deeds and and all his righteous deeds will not be remembered. Therefore, there is no way for us to escape. We must always abstain from evil and practice righteousness. When we fall, we must get up again. We must abstain from evil and practice righteousness again until we meet the Lord! "The fear of the Lord is my standard, God's desire is my pursuit, and I choose to serve Him all my life." (Quoting the words of Pastor Zhao Zhongquan) Those are the people of the kingdom of God. Those who only seek to be saved may be outside weeping and gnashing their teeth by then (see Matthew 13:42; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30, 41, 46)! The greatest commandment is to love God (see Matthew 22:37-40). Do you have it? The greatest mission is to cultivate disciples (see Matthew 28:19-20), are you willing? Then there is no need to worry about salvation, we still have to go before the Lord together to receive the prize! What a joy! Meet you there! (What a joy, meet you there!)

Author profile Pastor Xu Zongshi is a doctor of microbiology and a master of divinity from Trinity Theological Seminary in Chicago. He is currently the senior pastor of the New Jersey Evangelization Center in the United States. Author of the book "Flying Out of the Bird Cage".