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Jesus is recruiting disciples. As Christians we know that after His death on the cross all His disciples left Him. After His resurrection, He started recruiting them back. He showed up to all His disciples and in John 21:15-17, He specifically instructed Peter to shepherd His sheep. He showed up to Paul on the way to the Damascus and recruited Paul to be the missionary to the Gentiles. Jesus has not changed direction, He is still recruiting disciples to tend His sheep. See the great commission to be mentioned later.

If we want to be Jesus disciple, there are requirements or qualifications that we need to meet. Like any recruiter, He made that plain to us through His book.

Here are the verses that mention the discipleship of Jesus from the 4 Gospels:

I. Matthew 16:24-27

II. Mark 8: 34-38

III.1- Luke 9:24-26, III.2- Luke 14:26-35, and III.3- Luke 18:28-30

IV. John 10:1-18

The great commission

V. Matthew 28:18-20

VI. Conclusion and my Testimony

Let’s analyze these verses one by one:

I. Matthew 16:24-27

Matthew 16: 24 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
...”if anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.”
The words to discuss here is deny himself and take up his cross…

deny himself means denying oneself of the evil desires of his heart which will defile him.

             Mark 7:20-23 (NASB) list to us the evil desires from a man’s heart said by Jesus:

            20And He was saying, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the

                  man.
21″For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications,  

                 thefts, murders, adulteries,

22deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander,

                pride and foolishness.

            23″All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.

(If you don’t understand any of the bad words above, please look up the meaning of it in the dictionary.  If you use the internet, type up dictionary .com in the web.  Please don’t take those words lightly, they will rob you of your rewards in heaven if not avoided seriously.) 

Take up his cross means doing the assignment that God and Jesus told us to do. (Although Jesus is a healer and He healed many while on earth; although He is a teacher and He taught many while here on earth; Jesus main assignment is to die on the cross. This is His passion. He gave up His life for that assignment that He got from the Father.

What about us? What is our main assignment? Our assignment is to do the commandment of Jesus and then be His disciple. What is the difference between the assignment to do the commandment and being a disciple of Jesus?

The assignment to do His commandment is expected to change us and prepare us to do His great commission. What is the commandment that Jesus told us to follow with the help of the Holy Spirit. This is the commandment of love of God and love of our neighbors as ourselves.

• Matthew 22:37-39 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
37And He said to him, “(A)   ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’
38″This is the great and foremost commandment.
39″The second is like it, ‘(B)  YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’

• Mark 12:29-31 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
29Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘(A)  HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD;
30 AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’
31″The second is this, ‘(B)   YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

• Luke 10:26-28 New International Version, ©2011 (NIV)
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

What is the best test to know if we love God? We love God because we love our neighbors who we see. What happens to our offerings or prayers when our brother has something against us?

Matthew 5:23-25
23“Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,
24 leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
25″ Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.

What happens if we don’t get reconciled with our brother? Our prayers will be not answered. We are not going to be fully changed to be a disciple of Jesus. Jesus said, “Make friends quickly with your opponent..”..Please note the word “quickly” I believe He means no dilly dalying, no postponing, no delaying.  In short, He means now.

(continued) Matthew 16:25-27 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

25″For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
26″For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
27″For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.

I believe verse 25 is related to verse 26. It will be easy to understand verse 25 if we relate it to how we save our life on this earth. We work for food, clothing, and shelter and some luxuries. Either we have not enough or we have more than enough, the result is the same, we want more. Some people seem to gain the whole world at the expense of their soul. Jesus said, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?”

But if we lose our life for Jesus sake we will find it. Why? because He is going to repay us according to the work or deeds we do for Him. What is this work or deeds we do for Jesus? Getting people saved by spreading the good news about Jesus Christ. (the great commission, see below). How do we get people saved? By having people accept Jesus as their personal Savior and having them pray the prayer of salvation explained by Paul in Romans 10:9-10, 9 “If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead you will be saved. 10 for it is with heart that you believe unto righteousness, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.”

II. Mark 8:34-38 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

34 And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
This is a repeat of Mathew 24. See explanation above.
35“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.

“…the gospel’s will save it.” The gospel is the good news about Jesus Christ; that He died on the cross for our sins, that He rose again after 3 days to be with the Father in heaven, that He sent the Holy Spirit to be with us and in us, to comfort us, protect us, and to lead us to the path where Jesus wants us to be, to be His disciple (again this is the great commission). We proclaim the gospel, the gospel will save our life.

36″For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?
37″For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
38″For (C)whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, (D)the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He (E)comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

III.1- Luke 9: 24-26 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
24“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.
“…he is the one who will save it.” The “he” here is us; “he is the one who will save it” means that the decision belongs to us. Giving our free will to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior saves us. To be a disciple of Jesus will be the next step to be blessed here on earth and after that eternal life.
25“For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?
26″ For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

III.2 Luke 14:26-35 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
26“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

This shows how focus Jesus wants us to be, to become His disciple. Some of our father, mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters will distract us in performing our desire and duty as disciple of Jesus. Does this contradict the commandment of loving others? No way, our first responsibility is to them. We work so that we can provide for our family. A man who does not provide for his family is worse than an infidel (unbeliever). This means that before we become disciples of Jesus, we must know how to provide for our relatives and for our family.

1 Timothy 5:8 New International Version, ©2011 (NIV)
8 Anyone household, who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
There are Pastors and missionaries who are misled that their calling is to leave their families to do the work for the gospel. The truth is if they cannot support their families, they cannot perform the great commission.

(Continued)- Luke 14:27-35

27“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
“..his own cross here..” can be interpreted as his assignment to support his family and do his duty to the community.
28“For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?
29“Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him,
30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’

Jesus wants us to plan for the mission we need to do. Calculate the cost see if we have enough to complete it. What is the talent we want to build on? If we don’t have them, do we have the leadership capability to attract the talent?

Our foundation is Jesus. Our enemy is Satan who is a defeated foe. Yet, we still have to make sure that our desires are clean. Talents that we lack we can buy it.

Revelation 3:8 New American Standard Bible (NASB) Jesus speaking
18I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich…,
31“Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
32″Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.
33″So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.
34″Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned?
35″It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

III.3- Luke 18:28-30 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
28Peter said, “Behold, we have left our own homes and followed You.”
29And He said to them, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God,
30who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life.”

(Jesus promised many blessing in this life and in the life to come “eternal life”.  When you left your home to follow Jesus, this means that the home did not have any hold on you.  It is not your idol, you will “receive many times as much at this time”.)

IV. John 10:1-18

Parable of the Good Shepherd
1“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.
2″But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep.
3″To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
4″When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.
5″A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”
6This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.
7So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
8″All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
9″I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
10″The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
11″I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.
12″He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
13″He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep.
14″I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me,
15even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
16″I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.
17″For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again.
18″No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

Jesus is the Good Shepherd.  He has sheep to be called into His fold.  He has sheep to be taken cared of.  To be a disciple of Jesus therefore is  to gather the sheep called by Jesus and to protect His sheep,

The Great Commission

V. Matthew 28:18- 20 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

18And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

 All authority has been given to Jesus.  There are no more authority left for our enemy to attack us. Our enemy is a defeated foe.  We are sure of success.  Just do it.

19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to
the end of the age.”

We are commanded to make disciples of all nations. Jesus will be with us  always even to the end of the age

VI. Conclusion and My Testimony

I consider myself successful when I was in my real estate business in the U.S.. I made sure that God was my partner. I prayed every morning so that He will lead me to the right people. I made sure that I minister to those people by asking them to pray the prayer of salvation with me before I even work with them. If they reject Jesus, I will, in a nice way, tell them to find other real estate agents or brokers who can serve them better.

God allowed me to run a Bible Study with a group of believers. All of us grow in the knowledge of the “Word” and was blessed beyond measure in all the aspects of our life.

I am giving this testimony for others to know that the great commission could be our main priority while working the job that we need to do to support our family. We are all commissioned to spread the gospel to all nations. We need to practice it where we are what ever we do and wait for God’s promotion to assign us to the different parts of the world.

Amen

 

Eight Parts of Prayer as taught by Jesus: Exegesis on Matthew 6: 9-13 (Exegesis means critical explanation or interpretation of a text or portion of a text, esp. of the Bible.)

When His Disciple asked Jesus to teach them how to pray He recited
Matthew 6:9-13 (NKJV)
Verse

9. “…Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be your Name
10. Your kingdom come, your will be
done on Earth as it is in heaven.
11. Give us this day our daily bread
12. And forgive us our debts, as we
forgive our debtors.
13. And do not lead us into
temptation, but deliver us from
evil. For Yours is the kingdom
and the power and the glory
forever, Amen.

First Part: Know who you are praying to:

          Verse 9: “…Our Father who is in heaven..”
Jesus wants us to make sure that we are praying to the Father who is in Heaven. Jesus is the very first man to call God Almighty as His personal Father. The reverence of the Jews to God Almighty made them call Him, Lord, and many other names but not as their personal Father. YHWH, which is unpronounceable, is one of the names they call God . Jesus knows Him because He had seen Him and He came from Him (John 1:18) This is the Father of Jesus, God the Creator of everything.

Second Part: Praise Him and Worship Him

          “Hallowed be your name…”

Hallowed means holy. holy means sacred, pure, and anything pertaining to the Supreme Being. Hallowed means worship Him. This is the time to say to the Father our reverence for Him. We worship and we praise Him.

Third Part : Give Him your petition, make it big.

          Verse 10: “Your kingdom come”…

Make your petition big, something that you cannot do for yourself. The Jews were under the rule of the Roman Empire at that time. Just like any nations of the world, the Jews hated to be under any nation (who wants to be) but they cannot do anything. Roman Empire was so powerful at that time. Thy Kingdom come is the desire in the hearts of every Jew. Jesus is telling His disciples to ask for the Kingdom of God to come

          Verse 10 (2nd part) “your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven”

This is part of a big petition, the will of the Father which means peace, love, joy, blessing, and salvation for the people are done on Earth as it is in Heaven. We are asking that whatever He is experiencing in Heaven be upon us here on Earth.

Fourth Part: Give your daily petition

          Verse 11: “Give us this day our daily bread”.

Bread represents our daily need. We could ask for a solution to our personal problem, a healing for our sickness, a relationship to be mended,…etc.

Fifth Part: Ask for the forgiveness of our debts or trespasses but knowing there’s a condition.

          Verse 12: “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

The condition is that we should forgive those who trespass against us.

Sixth Part: Ask for guidance to avoid evil, and when we fall ask for deliverance.

          Verse 13: “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

Seventh Part: For any answered prayer, give back the honor to God. Thank Him for the all the accomplishments because of Him and not because of us.

          “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen.”

Eight part: End your prayer in Jesus Name Jesus said in John 16:23, New King James Version (NKJV)
“…. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you.”

Questions?

1. What is the petition taught by Jesus?  “Thy Kingdom come”.

2. Did this petition materialized during His time? Yes, the Kingdom of God accomplished by Jesus on the cross came down from heaven whereby salvation came to all.

3. What happened to the Roman Empire? The empire which does not believe in Christ does not exist anymore.  This history happened for us to believe that the Kingdom of God has already been established since two thousand years ago. 

4. What is the salvation offered by Jesus Christ?  For Him (Jesus Christ) to be our personal Savior and for Him to be our Lord.  (Please read the article of Salvation given in this web site to assure yourself of the salvation offered by Jesus.)

Do you want to start a Bible Study?
Let us know.
E-mail us: followhimlcc@yahoo.com.
Web site: www.followhimlibertychristian.org
Our Phone: 0927-597-9662 cell
(02) 514-6216

 

A man has faith if “having received a Word from God, and overcoming fear, doubt, and unbelief, the person acted on it.” In God’s time, the Word will show its fruit on the person’s life. Hebrews 11:1 says,“Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.“

When Noah was told to build the ark, he was told to build it on top of the mountain. Nobody in his right mind would build a boat that big on top of the mountain. Boats were built with proximity and access to the sea. This was why the people were laughing at him. God told him there would be rain. Rain was something that had not happened yet at the time of Noah. Vegetation was watered by mist and dew from the earth (Gen 2:6). Noah believed by faith that God was doing everything that He said. His faith was, God said it, that settled it.

It took me 30 years to understand why a loving God will destroy His creation because of their sins. Their sins have been with them since Adam, why now? If this puzzles you, e-mail us and we’ll tell you the answer.

Faith grasps the promises of God and reckon it to be accomplished. Faith is the key that unlocks the power of God into our life. First, we read that the dominion lost by Adam because of man’s sin is recovered by all powerful Christ through His death and resurrection. Second, we believe. Third, we experience the joy of His salvation.The Bible says that faith is the evidence of things unseen. It is an ability to reach beyond ourselves, to go past the obvious circumstances that surround us. It is a capacity to be convinced of the reality of things that are not yet visible. It enables us to anticipate things that are not yet perceptible to the natural senses. Faith is the outreach of the human heart to God, an outreach based on unwavering confidence in the integrity of God’s Word and in His ability and power to meet every need, to overcome every situation.

We need to know that there is no sin , or habit, or fear, or disease from which He cannot set us free. Second, we need tap to that power by faith and nothing will hinder us from accomplishing God’s promises into our life. “This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith” (1John 5:4). How do we get faith? Paul said in Romans 10:17, “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”

When we read the Bible, God will be talking to us. Our belief that God talks to us through the Bible, mixed with faith will bring that Word into realization. There are thousands of promises of God in the Bible all applicable to us. Read them, believe them, they are yours by faith.

The process of faith then is Knowing, knowing that God will fulfill His promises, Hearing, hearing personal instruction from God, Doing or acting on the Word, and finally Seeing the Word’s accomplishment into our lives and others. 

Prayer of Salvation: Please pray this prayer out loud to assure yourself
of eternal life promised by God through Jesus.

 

Dear God in Heaven,
I admit I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sin. I believe that He rose again after three days to be with You in heaven sitting at Your right hand. I thank You for forgiving my sin. I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I now invite Him to be in my heart and in my life. I thank you for the Holy Spirit who will be in me to guide me, protect me, and to lead me to the path of righteousness where You want me to be now and forever. Amen.

 

Salvation is the result of the grace of God through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and not because of our work, it is the gift of God:

Apostle Paul in (Ephesians 2:8-9) “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast”.

Salvation is the belief in Jesus. Jesus speaking in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life”.

Salvation is declaring with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believing in your heart that God raised Him from the dead:
Apostle Paul speaking again in (Romans 10:9-10): “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved”. Amen

“The above three groups of verses in the Bible prove your salvation. Salvation is by faith in Jesus and by faith in God, then we experience the power of the Holy Spirit”. Please read the topic; Basic Principles of Faith on the right hand side of this page.

To know what to do after you have been saved, please read the complete definition of Salvation. Please click on the topic “Salvation as defined by the Bible” on the right hand side of this page.

This is an attempt to do a verse by verse Bible Study of John 3:1-21. These verses are the foundation of Christians in believing in “born again” as mentioned by Jesus. But what exactly is the meaning of born again has been debated for centuries and the interpretation has been many. Please pray for the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit before you read below. If you are searching for the truth, please remove any preconceived ideas before you study. Let the Holy Spirit reveal the truth to you.

John 3:1-21

1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”
10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? 11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

The above verses not only tell us about being born again but also the whole scenario of salvation according to Jesus.  We will analyze this verse by verse to make sure we don’t miss anything.

1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.

Pharisees and Sadducees were the spiritual leaders and were the political leaders at the time of Jesus. They were the elite in the society having been through rigorous training. They were the political leaders and they impose the law at the same time. It was from these groups that the chief priest was selected. Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, was a Pharisee.

2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”

Nicodemus came by night.  Obviously, he came by night so as not to create a scene among the people that he led and among the colleague he was with.  This was the time of the beginning of Jesus ministry and He was not known yet to most leaders.  Nicodemus was showing a maturity of being a leader.  He was always seeking for the truth and new ideas how to improve his knowledge and leadership in his own time without sacrificing his time for his duties. He was also protecting the people by investigating and making sure that Jesus was from God not just from what he heard from others but to hear it from Jesus himself.

What was missing in this verse was the question of Nicodemus.  Jesus gave a good answer in verse three but please observe that Nicodemus question was not written.  We can formulate the question based on the answers of Jesus. It is interesting to note that in contrast with the Sadducees, the Pharisees as a group believed in the resurrection.  Putting these two information together, the answers of Jesus and Nicodemus being a Pharisee, the question could be, “What must I do to see and enter the Kingdom of God and thereby be worthy of the resurrection to the eternal life with the Father?”

3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

This was the first mention of born again by Jesus.  Born again was the combination of the two Greek words, first was “gennao” which meant to be conceived or born, and the second word “anothen” which meant “from above”, or “again”. Jesus answer to Nicodemus could be born again or born from above.  We will know from the answer of Nicodemus which of the two meaning is used by Jesus as understood by Nicodemus.  (.As a Jew, Nicodemus believed that the blessing of God will come to him and to the nation of Israel because he was born a Jew, a descendant of Abraham. Abraham was the first Jew who because of his faith, all nations will be blessed through his descendant.) Nicodemus was expecting Jesus answer to be some work to be done, some laws to be observed, in order to enter the Kingdom of God. His intellect cannot comprehend the words, born again. As if his mind was saying I was already born into God’s blessing being a Jew, what is this born again that you are talking about. He asked a very practical question to Jesus on verse 4:

4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

The question clarified the real meaning of the two Greek words “gennao anothen” as used by Jesus. It had to be born again, and born from above.  Nicodemus question showed his limited knowledge.  He only knew the birth into this world, but he did not know the birth from above. Birth from above is the born again in the Spirit.

5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”

Jesus mentioned the two births right here, one was born of water and the other was born of the Spirit.  Then He added that this was a requirement to enter the Kingdom of God. This was also a preparation for verse 6 on telling us what was born of water and what is born of the Spirit.

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

This was very clear. The one born of water in verse 5 was born of flesh in verse 6. The one born of Spirit in verse 5 is spirit in verse 6. For many centuries, Christian churches in different denominations believed that born of water was water baptism. There were conflicts on the kind of baptism whether immersed or sprinkled, but Jesus never mentioned water baptism or else He would have said so. John the Baptist testified that Jesus baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire. This was John the Baptist speaking:

Matthew 3:11, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. But he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and with fire:”
Luke 3:16, “John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire:”

Is it amazing that Jesus knew the amniotic fluid (water) that goes with the birth of a baby? This was born in flesh. When the birth of the Spirit comes to a man or a woman, this was considered born again. This meant that born again experience are only for human beings.  Why? Because one of the accomplishments of Jesus on the cross was to bring back the fellowship of the Holy Spirit lost by Adam when he sinned.

7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

8 “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Verse 8 gave us a formula of how to be born again.  This will be known only by the people who were born again.  The wind represented the Holy Spirit; you hear the sound of it but cannot tell where it comes from and when it goes.  So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

The first group that received the Holy Spirit was the apostles of Jesus after the resurrection.  (John 20:19-22).  They were behind locked doors for fear of the Jews when Jesus came and stood among them.  They were filled with joy.  He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit!”

The second group that received the Holy Spirit were the disciples on the day of the Pentecost (Acts 2). Peter gave a sermon and three thousand souls were added to those who were saved.

The key to being “Born Again” is the receipt of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the deposit God has given to us these days.

Jesus said, “It is important that I go to the Father so that I can send you the Holy Spirit.”

Every born again believer can testify the exact time when Jesus came into their heart.  This was the time their life was turned around. For me, I was in my office late one evening when someone prayed for me to receive Jesus. That was more than 30 years ago and the memory was very vivid in my mind. You can read thousands of stories from people coming from all walks of life whose life was changed when they were born again. Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch (pronounced Doik), was a former communist, former chief executioner, former prison chief of the feared Khmre Rogue of Cambodia.  He committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as homicide and torture. He was born again; he traded his leftist ideology for Jesus.  He became pious, which means Godly, contrite, which means remorseful and repentant. He became a lay pastor and an evangelist converting his family, his friends, neighbors, and whoever he talked to into believing in Jesus. He reminded me of Paul of Tarsus who was a Christian persecutor and executioner. After he met Jesus, he became the apostles to the Gentiles and wrote almost 50% of the books of the New Testament. Paul converted the whole Gentile nation in his time.

9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”

We know that at this point, Nicodemus was using his intellect, drawing from his knowledge of the Bible, recollecting from his experiences, and yet, he cannot understand.  Born again of the Spirit cannot be understood by just studying the Bible.  It has to be experienced.

10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?

Nicodemus did not just study the Bible.  He was teaching it.  And yet he did not understand the meaning of born again of the Spirit.

11 “Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness.”

Jesus at this point was starting to give His testimony.  It was important that Nicodemus accepted His testimony.  He will be talking later of eternal life and salvation and Nicodemus needed to receive His testimony. Once he is changed, he will have his own testimony.

12 “If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”

Verse 12 clearly says that being born again was an earthly thing because so far Jesus had not talked about heavenly things yet.  This is important because the Jehovah Witness article that I read on born again claimed that the born again people were the 144,000 mentioned in Revelation 14. We know this was not so because those people in the first place were “blameless, and no lie was found in their mouth”.  To be born again, we needed to accept that we were sinners and not blameless.  A video in the Internet by a “Christian” pastor explained that born again is when we have our resurrected bodies which will happen at the second coming of Christ.

13 “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.”

Now Jesus was talking about heavenly things.  Jesus was talking about a topic familiar to Nicodemus, the Son of Man.  The Son of Man was another term for God coming down from heaven to earth to establish His Kingdom.  They call Him also as the Messiah.  The next verse will be familiar to Nicodemus but now Jesus was making a connection from the familiar to an unfamiliar, from familiar to something new.

14 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

“That whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” was new to Nicodemus because his belief of earning eternal life was through works, through adherence to the law, through constant prayer and Bible study and worship.

16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

The very famous verse memorized by many Christians because of the truth in it.  This was an eye opener for Nicodemus.  There will be no more questions from Nicodemus at this point onward.  Jesus will be explaining the salvation that was to come.

17 “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

A person who does not believe is condemned already.  Then in the next verse he explained why there were men who will not believe.

19 “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”

These men loved the darkness because their deeds were evil.  Light represents God, darkness represents evil.

20 “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.”

Evil men would not want their deeds exposed or changed.  They love their life.

21 “But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

The conclusion of their conversation is about the truth, and the light.

Jesus said later on that, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6).  He also said that,…”I am the light of the world, he that follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12). In plain language, Jesus is saying that he who does what I say (the truth) is in the light and his deeds is clearly seen. “They have been done in God” are the work in the Holy Spirit. These are the work that God assigns us to do.  This is the God given talent in us that we exercise in God to help others.

What Jesus did not say to Nicodemus was the truth that he was the Son of God.  Nicodemus might not be ready at that time and Jesus will allow time and the events to follow to reveal and witness to Nicodemus. Jesus could have said he was the Son of Man but it was not written. When Jesus died, Nicodemus brought myrrh and aloes; these were embalming materials, a hundred pound in weight, to help bury Jesus. (John 19:39)

How does a man then be born again?  My book on Salvation will clarify this.

Salvation is the result of the grace of God through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and not because of our work, it is the gift of God:

Apostle Paul again in (Ephesians 2:8-9) “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast”.

Prayer of Salvation: Please pray this prayer out loud to assure yourself of eternal life promised by God through Jesus.

Dear God in heaven, I admit I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sin. I believe that He rose again after three days to be with You in heaven sitting at Your right hand. I thank You for forgiving my sins. I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I now invite Him to be in my heart and in my life. I thank you for the Holy Spirit who will be in me to guide me, protect me, and to lead me to the path of righteousness where You want me to be now and forever. Amen.

Congratulations
If you prayed this prayer out loud by yourself or with others, and you believe in your
heart that Jesus died and rose again, you are assured of your salvation.  Continue your journey here on earth enjoying the fellowship of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

The word love in English has many different meanings in Greek which is the original language of the New Testament. Agape love is one of them which is the highest form of love, God’s love. Parental love is “sturge”. Friendship love is “phileo” and propagation or sexual love is “eros” and dependent love.

In order to differentiate and understand God’s love, we need to understand the other love’s which are from God but a lower form of love. Remember this, these love mentioned here are also from God but has been polluted by the errors of mankind.

Dependent love
The love a child has for a parent. This is important for the development of a child. Child development is believed to be up to 5 to 6 years old. A child who did not experience parental nurturing will have a hard time later in life. They become dependent too much on other people. They will always be looking for that love that was missing when they were kids. They easily put blames on others instead of looking for a solution or looking for alternatives. They will complain blaming the company they work for or even the government. This is the reason why the people of God are commanded to take care of their orphans. Children need to experience the love of the parent which will be explained below.

Because of this dependent love, Jesus said about little children in Matthew 19:14, “the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them.” 14But Jesus said, “(A)Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for (B)the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (NASB)

Dependent love is the same love we should feel about our Father in heaven who will always be there for what ever we need.  Like a child longs for their parents, we should not outgrow that love for our God, the Father.

Eros love
This love is created by God to propagate species, the sexual attraction between male and female. This is so strong at puberty, presumed to be 14 for male, 12 for female. This is why we still remember our first love when we were teenagers. This kind of love is exciting and full of energy. People who misunderstand this love and did not develop to the higher form of love become sexual addicts, and then sexual predators. Adults in the misuse of this love are in pornography. Business exploiting people because of this love are in producing products to promote sexual lust. This love makes it clear that homosexuality is a perversion of this love. Propagation of species cannot be done between two males or between two females. Can love between two same sex exist.? Yes. See the next definition, “phileo”
love.

Phileo love
This is friendship love. This is also ‘philadelphia’ love which also means brotherly or sisterly love. This is the love that can exist between two men and between two women. When developed, this is a wholesome love where there is kindness, respect, honesty, and integrity. When you love your friend, you don’t want to hurt them. You want to maintain their respect and their trust. When developed, friends will give their life and liberty to protect their friends. This is the reason why gang membership among the youth is hard to break. The friendship is more important than anything else. Their common goal is to protect their friends.

This should be the relationship between couples before marriage. If the marriage is done as God designed it, there should be no problem adjusting from “Phileo” to “Sturge” love

Another form of this love is when the object of love is not directed to a fellow human being. This could be love of country, love of our job or profession, love of animals, love of things or activities (developing hobbies).

“Storge” Love
“Storge” love is the love of the parents to their children. Woman’s compassion to their children starts at the womb. This is the reason why women like Sarah Palin, vice presidential candidate of the U.S., is so popular.  She showed her “storge” love by carrying her baby to birth even though she knew the baby will be a mongoloid. “Storge” love makes fathers work hard for their children and support the family. This love should not change, period. Parents should give to their children because love is giving. This love is designed by God for parents to support their children until they can function on their own so that when the parents get old, the children will support their parents. Human being limitations put conditions on this love. Poor parents cannot support their children anymore, even if they want to. America and other developed countries’ society put the age of 18 as the age when their children should leave and be on their own. Parents high or low expectations on their children, pervert this love. Children should be allowed to grow into the God given talent they are born with. Parental love will nourish that talent. There is only a very fine thin line that separates “storge” love from agape love.

Agape Love
The best manifestation of this love is when Jesus died on the cross for our sin.  Man cannot save himself.  God has to come down from heaven and manifest himself as a man to save us.  John 3: 16 says, “For God so love (agape) the world (us) the He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. God has to defeat Satan, the source of all evil in the world, by showing His agape love for mankind.

By what Jesus did, we have a glance on what our love should be for our God Almighty.  It is obedience to God and it is submitting our will to the Father.  It is a decision and doing what we need to do in spite of the circumstances.  Agape love is following Jesus.  Following Jesus is knowing His commandment.  Knowing his commandment is reading His book he left to us, The Bible.

God’s love is the unconditional love. I love you period, no buts, no ifs, no conditions. What if you make mistakes? God still loves you. God’s love is constant, it does not change. God love is always giving. The object of God’s love is you and me. That is the reason why He created the world. This world is for you and me. Let us go back for a minute on “sturge” love. Can you imagine a parent who has this love but also has unlimited resources. I remember my love for my first grandchild. I told myself I am going to give her everything she needs and what ever she ask for. When she was about three years old, she was with her mom and her grandmother in a department store. She asked for toys but both of them said no.

Then she told them, “I wish my grandpa is here”. God will give us everything we need because of His agape love. God can afford everything that we need. He is not limited by lack. Don’t we wish for our God to be here? But he is here within us. How do you look for somebody who is within you?

God gave us the Book to know about that agape love. God gave us the Bible to know Him and His Son who is the personification of the agape love.

Please start reading the Bible. If you don’t have one, buy one. This is the best gift you can give yourselfin this life. Read the Fundamentals of Bible Study.

Basic  Theology
Please finish reading this until the end to have your own personal revelation.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1:   Theological Foundation – My own research based on the study of the Bible,
the religions of the world, and practical observations. By Josue C. Ona

1.        Obedience Revelation

2.        Historical revelation

3.        Reason or Querulous Revelation

4.        Sacred Text Revelation

5.        Spiritual Revelation

6.        Personal revelation

Chapter 2.  One True God

My personal revelation

Chapter 1:  Theological Foundations

.     Theology is the study of God and His relationship to all that He created. Theology is not a search for God. The very first requirement is to believe in God. To believe in Him is not a blind faith without any foundation.  Belief in God always has a foundation. The foundation is built based on six revelations. All people that believe in God will have at least one or a combination of these revelations. It is important to know and analyze these revelations. These revelations, any one or a combination of them, will prompt an individual to three stages of his life, searching, knowing, and obeying. These revelations determine our success or failure in this life. It is therefore very critical to know these revelations and find out where we are at. These revelations are:  personal revelation, spiritual revelation, sacred text revelation, historical revelation, reason or querulous didactic revelation, and
obedience revelation.

1.        Obedience Revelation:
Most of our theology is based on obedience. We inherit the religion of our parents from one
generation to another without any question; going to church every Sunday, Sabbath day, or whatever day our religion say so. Most individual will focus their mind, time and energy on other things and be contented on their obedience foundation when it comes to God. They will search and work for abundant life and be contented with their obedience revelation when it comes to their knowledge of God. The Bible says, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these thing shall be added into you.”

2.        Reason or Querulous Revelation: When a person questions the practicality of the
religious practice he inherited, reason and querulous revelation comes in. The search for the truth through study of sacred text, observation, questions, and reasoning follows.

Jose Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines, and later called the Pride of the Malay Race, questioned the practice of the Catholic priests and the religion during his time. He wrote two books to reveal these practices. It cost him his life. He was shot in Luneta, which was now a famous park and a tourist spot in the city of Manila.

Buddha questioned the asceticism practice of his parents during his time. He gave up the palace, his wife, and his son to search for the truth. He ran away and did not stop until he got his personal revelation. His revelation is followed and being researched by the whole Buddhist community.

THIS IMAGE OF JESUS WAS DONE BY JUST A SINGLE STROKE OF THE PEN

3.        Historical and General Revelation: God is revealed in the history of mankind. The Bible is very rich in this type of revelation. Nebuchadnezzar was a great Babylon king who thought he was god because of his power and his accomplishment. He built the hanging garden of Babylon.

                                      

          HANGING GARDENS OF BABYLON                                                               GOLDEN STATUE OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR

One of the seven wonders of the world. He made a golden statue of himself and made his subject worshiped it. God said he will be like an animal which will live in the forest and feed on grass for seven years. He became insane and was thrown to the forest to live and eat grass with the animals. After seven years, he was back on his throne. He was humbled and then realized there was a Most High God, King of heaven … “who is able to humble those who walk in pride.” (Daniel 4:37). Moses led more than a million men, women, and children out of slavery from Egypt through the command of God.

       

        PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT                              SPHYNX OF EGYPT                                GRAND CANYON OF ARIZONA

God showed miracles after miracles and still the people grumbled in unbelief. These stories are revealed to us as an example of what to follow and what not to do.

The Pyramids of Egypt, the Sphinx of Egypt, the Grand Canyon of Arizona, and many other colossal figures are general revelation on the earth landscape telling us that we cannot yet fathom the real reason for their existence. I believe God allowed them to be there as a general revelation to us. The wall of the universe is not yet reached by science. So many creations, living and non living, that are recently discovered baffle science now. The truth will be revealed only as God allows us to know. The revelation happens when we are ready for it.

4.        Sacred Text Revelation Sacred texts are writings by God’s messengers and prophets inspired by God. This Word of God is written specially for the people at the time the text was written. Because of the eternal value of the Word of God, the Word is applicable to all generations. The reader has to be searching with a pure heart to discern the revelation. Conflict arises on the interpretation of the scripture because of the limited knowledge of man. We have to know that scriptures are written for a particular people in a particular time. It is important to study the cultural belief system and many other factors to reveal the actual interpretation of the Word.

Sacred Books

5.           Spiritual Revelation These are revelation through spiritual beings like angels, God’s spiritual messengers, or from God Himself. The revelation could be through dreams, vision, or even through another person but the discernment is spiritual. Again, this kind of revelation is for a particular time, for a particular person or group of people in different particular situations. Muhammed of the Muslim faith claimed to have direct revelation from the angel Gabriel. The spiritual revelation generated the Koran, the sacred text of Islam. The Muslim religion is the second largest in the number of population of believers. Joseph Smith had a spiritual revelation from angel Moroni that led to the recovery of the sacred text later transcribed as the Book of Mormon.

  Angel Moroni of Mormons

6. Personal revelation: This kind of revelation is very specific for the person the revelation is given. Joseph, from the book of Genesis, has a personal revelation that his older brothers will be bowing to him. It was when Joseph become the prime minister of Egypt and his brothers came to buy food from him that Joseph realized the fulfillment of that personal revelation.. Moses has the personal revelation and the command to save the people from the bondage in Egypt. John the Baptist has the personal revelation of the coming messiah. Jesus has a revelation that He will be in the cross to die for mankind. There are many other examples of personal revelation that will bring us to conclusion that, not unless we get that personal revelation of what our purpose here on earth is, we will not fully be satisfied or fulfilled.

   

JOSEPH – PRIME MINISTER OF EGYPT

Chapter 2.        The Almighty God, the Creator: The Holy Scriptures were written for us so that we may cope with life here on earth. God did not write the Scriptures to prove himself. God is. He said I am who I am, “The beginning and the end, from everlasting to everlasting.” There is no book that can contain the definition of God. He is a Spirit, omnipotent, omniscient, and wise. His moral attributes are faithful, truthful, good, patient, gracious and merciful, holy, righteous and just, and many others. We cannot confine Him here on earth nor can we define Him by the language we use. We know Him by Faith (click on this to know what faith is) and by personal revelation. This is the reason why the prophets in the Bible know the Lord, the One True God. God reveals Himself through His Son Jesus Christ, and through the power of the Holy Spirit. All the attributes of God are in His Son. His death on the cross pave the way for the salvation of mankind. Go to the definition of “Salvation.”

My personal testimony

My personal revelation was when somebody prayed the prayer of salvation to me more than 30 years ago. There was a Campus Crusade Movement started by Bill Bright from the U.S., distributing pamphlets on four spiritual laws. After explaining the four laws we prayed together a prayer of Salvation. We were reading a prayer similar to the one below. My life was changed after that. I was no longer the same person. My desire changed. I became close to my family, my wife and my children. I have three kids then, Joseph, 8, Michelle 6, and Jose Mari, 4.

There were four areas affected immediately by the change in me. The first area was my desire to read the Bible. I could understand most of it. I read the Bible before I left for the office then I read it when I got back. The second area was my family life. I was longing to be with my family after work. I used to go out with friends and co workers after work to have a good time. After I changed, I felt that was a waste of my valuable time. My desire was to be with my family. I still have time for my friends but that becomes secondary to my time with my family. The third area was my job. I saw my job as temporary. I used to put a lot of time and effort into it. I love my job then because it provided the income for my family. Ford Philippines was a generous company and I held a nice junior executive position with a car and big enough pay to afford some luxury. The fourth area was my time, I learned how to balance my time. I had time to pursue my studies in MBA and yet had time for my family, friends and my job. In all of these, I give back the honor and the glory to God.

I know Jesus personally. I am thankful to Him because He changed my life. I will not be where I am now if it was not for Him.

Prayer of Salvation

Through prayer, invite Jesus into your life to become your personal Saviour.

“For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:10)
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

Pray this prayer loud enough for you to hear yourself if you are alone. Better yet if you are praying this with somebody. The result will be the same. This is the day you will have a personal relationship with Jesus:

Dear God in heaven, I admit I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sin. I believe that He rose again after three days to be with You in heaven sitting at Your right hand. I thank You for forgiving my sins. I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I now invite Him to be in my heart and in my life. I thank you for the Holy Spirit who will be in me to guide me, protect me, and to lead me to the path of righteousness where You want me to be now and forever. Amen.

Congratulations! You are now heaven bound into eternal life with Jesus and God the Father. The Holy Spirit is your guide in your journey on the earth experiencing the abundant life that Jesus promised. It is going to be an exciting and promising life from now on.

John 1:12 (KJV)

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name

The name is Jesus the Christ.

Table of Contents:

1. Introduction
2. Prayer of Salvation
3. Salvation as defined by the Bible

3.1 Repentance
3.2 Atonement and Redemption
3.3 Deliverance and Justification
3.4 Sanctification and becoming a worker of God
3.5 Glorification

3.5.1 Verses believe by the people why they will lose their salvation

3.5.1.a. Psalms 26:11 quoted by 2 Peter 2:21-22
3.5.1.b. Hebrews 6:4-8
3.5.1.c. Matthew 6:21-23

4. Now that Salvation is completely defined, what must we do?

4.A. Believe that Jesus Christ was sent for our Salvation
4.B. Through prayer, invite Jesus into your life to become your personal Saviour
4.C. If you have received Jesus Christ as your Saviour, as a Christian you should:

4.C.a. Read your Bible every day to get to know Christ better
4.C.b. Talk to God in prayer everyday
4.C.c. Be baptized. Worship, fellowship, and serve Jesus by starting your own Bible
Study Group
4.C.d. Search your gift and use it for the Kingdom of God
4.C.e. Tell others about Christ
4.C.f. Give to yourself then give to others
4.C.g. Serve others by being good at what you do

4.D. Know the vision, do the mission

This is an exegesis of the text of the Bible as revealed to me. I encourage you to read the Bible on your own to find your own salvation. The Bible is the Word Of God. When you pray and ask for wisdom to understand the Bible, God will reveal himself to you. I will encourage you to read the books of the New Testament first before you read any book in the Old testament. If you don’t understand any of the words above, use the dictionary. Please read the Fundamentals of Bible Study

God is our salvation from the beginning of creation up to the everlasting time which is forever. After people sinned through Adam, Jesus the Son of God, was prophesied from Genesis to Revelation as our salvation. The Old Testament prophets looked forward at the crucifixion and saw Jesus while the New Testament people, that’s us, look back at the crucifixion.

King David of the Old Testament said: Psalm 18:2

The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

The Lord is David’s salvation. He is also the stone which he said in prophesy,

Psalm 118:21-22
I shall give thanks to you for you have answered me,
And you have become my salvation.
The stone which the builder rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.

The same Lord, David prophesied in

Psalm 22:16-18; (David saw the crucifixion almost 1000 years before it happened.)
For dogs have surrounded me;
A band of evildoers has encompassed me;
They pierced my hands and my feet.
I can count all my bones.
They look, they stare at me;

They divide my garments among them,
And for my clothing they cast lots.

David is looking at Jesus as his salvation.

Salvation is the belief in Jesus. Jesus speaking in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life”.

Salvation is declaring with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believing in your heart that God raised Him from the dead:

Apostle Paul speaking in (Romans 10:9-10): “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved”.

Prayer of Salvation: Please pray this prayer out loud to assure yourself of eternal life promised by God through Jesus.

Dear God in heaven, I admit I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sin. I believe that He rose again after three days to be with You in heaven sitting at Your right hand. I thank You for forgiving my sins. I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I now invite Him to be in my heart and in my life. I thank you for the Holy Spirit who will be in me to guide me, protect me, and to lead me to the path of righteousness where You want me to be now and forever. Amen.

Salvation is the result of the grace of God through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and not because of our work, it is the gift of God:

Apostle Paul again in (Ephesians 2:8-9) “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast”.

Where does works come in as part of our salvation?

When we understand the full meaning of salvation, all the conflicts and questions about it will vanish. Questions like, “Is it permanent?” Or the same question but worded differently, “Am I going to lose my salvation?” How about the question of being saved by faith and not by works? If we are saved by faith, where does our work comes in? This book will attempt to define salvation so as to answer these questions and resolve what seems to be conflicting definition coming from the same source- the Bible. I will also give the actions to be done after we got saved. But first, we have to know the meaning of salvation. What is “SALVATION”?

Salvation as defined by the Bible

Salvation as defined by the dictionary is the act of saving; preservation, or deliverance from destruction, danger, or great calamity. In religion, salvation is defined as, the redemption of man from the bondage of sin and liability to eternal death, and the conferring on him of everlasting happiness.

Salvation as defined by the Bible is a five fold process that God put us through. By the careful study of the Bible, The Word, brings us to this different process. Knowing the definition of the Salvation given by the Bible will give power into our lives.

To give light into the definition by the Bible, let me give you simple examples of conditions people are sometimes in. Let us first consider three persons in three different conditions.

Condition 1. A person who has an addiction but continues to function in the society.  (The person may be a man or a woman but for this illustration we will use the male gender for convenience.)  His addiction could be accepted or not accepted by society he lives in. A sexually addicted person living in a society where multiple marriages are allowed will have many wives. A sexually addicted person will have multiple sex in a society where promiscuity is not hindered. Or these persons will hide their actions to perform their addiction which are illegal, example are drug addictions.

Condition 2. A man who has cancer but continues to function in the society to earn a living.  He may or may not know that he has the cancer. If he knows he is sick, he will be looking for a cure if there is, if he does not know, he will continue to function in the society to earn a living.

Condition 3. A person who is sick in bed, who cannot function anymore because of the sickness. He is visited frequently by priests, pastors, relatives and friends.

All these people need salvation whether they know it or not. The first person needs to get away from his addiction. The other two need to be healed from their sickness. All the three need spiritual salvation as well as physical salvation or healing. I went through these examples just to prove the first part of salvation.

Salvation starts with repentance and the acknowledgement of sin in our life, acknowledgement of our weaknesses.

1. Repentance:
Repentance is defined as a deep sorrow, compunction, or contrition for a past sin, wrongdoing, or the like. It is a regret of past action. Before a person can repent, he has to acknowledge that he is a sinner. A person has to acknowledge the sins and mistakes in his life. This first part answers the question, “Why do we need salvation?” The first part of salvation is to know that we are sinners and to know that God cannot be with us because of the sin in us.

Sin is defined as the transgression or violation of God’s spiritual and moral law. Thoughts, words, or acts that are shameful, harmful, and immoral, are considered sin. Others define sin as missing the mark. In this life you are given a bow and arrow, you are commanded to hit the bulls eye, but you miss the mark. The bow and arrow represent your gifts and talents. All of us have our own unique gifts and talents we can use for the plan that God has for our life.

Another way of viewing sin is through the word “scotoma”. All of us have “scotoma”. “Scotoma” is the Greek word for imperfection, blind spot, or lack of complete knowledge. Salvation is important to eliminate the “scotoma” in us which the Bible calls sin. Sin brings physical death and spiritual death which is the separation from God.

The question is who sinned? By looking at the definition of sin, we know that we are all sinners. This is confirmed by the word of the Bible saying:

(Romans 3:23) “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”.
(Romans 5:12) “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—”. Everybody sinned according to these verses. That everybody included  you and me. What do we need to have then to initially be qualified to repent?

Isaiah 57:15
The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts. Contrite means sincere and remorseful. When our spirit is full of guilt, it desires for atonement. Then the heart is ready, the heart is repentant. Repentance is an act of a contrite and humble spirit. Repentance is a condition of the heart.  If a person is at the height of his career, having the power, the wealth, and popularity, it will be hard to have a contrite and humble spirit. Sometimes God has to wait until a person has crushed spirit, which means that he/she experiences a big downfall or calamity. He will be searching for an answer. Then he will be searching for a solution. He will be searching for salvation

What happens when one sinner repents?

Luke 15:10
In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” Let us now go back to the three persons with three different conditions given above. In condition 1, The addict slowly deteriorated until he/she got sick and is now in bed. Material blessings are all lost. In condition 2, the person who got cancer found out that he got cancer and is now sick in bed. They are now repentant, they are now praying and asking for healing. This is when we get to the second part of salvation:

2. Atonement and Redemption:
How do we get to the second part of our salvation? I call this atonement and redemption. Atonement is defined as the doctrine concerning the reconciliation of God and humankind, esp. as accomplished through the life, suffering, and death of Christ. Atonement is also “at one ment” or reconciliation, whereby God begins to fellowship with us.

(Romans 6:23) God gives eternal life because Jesus Christ atoned for our sin: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”. Redemption is a religious concept referring to forgiveness or absolution for past sins and protection from eternal damnation, generally through sacrifice. Redemption is common in many world religions and all Abrahamic religions, especially in Christianity and Islam. In Christianity, redemption is
synonymous with salvation. It can also refer to being forgiven from being evil. However from the Christian point of view if we die the man we are born as, we will die as sinners and therefore be condemned to eternal separation from God. This is the reason why Jesus said we must be born again. This is explained later. Keep on reading.

Let us now consider these Words given by the Bible

(John 3:16)”For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that  whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”.

(Romans 5:8) God’s love: “God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”.

(Ephesians 2:4-5) “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved”.

(Ephesians 2:8-9) “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast”.

(Titus 3:4-7) : “When the kindness of God our Saviour, and his love towards man, appeared, not by works done in righteousness, which we did ourselves, but according to his mercy he saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly, through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that, being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life” Redemption is part of the salvation process. That is why when we see the term saved in the Bible, this is salvation through redemption done by Jesus on the cross. This is the result of God’s agape love for us. (See my book on understanding the agape love of God) Redemption which is
synonymous to salvation is by grace not of works that we should boast. Salvation via redemption isbelieving in Jesus and His resurrection thereby earning the eternal life.
Jesus said,

(John 14:6) NAS  “I am the way, the truth , and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me.”
Then Paul said,

(Romans 10:9-10): “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved”.
(Romans 10:13) “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”.
That name is Jesus Christ. He is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.
The Message Bible (MSG) says:

2 Corinthians 5:16:20
Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start
by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.

The King James Bible (KJB) says:
2 Corinthians 5:17:
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. We are now a new creature in Christ. This was done by His redemption and our acceptance of Him as our Lord and Savior. This is the same as being born again as explain by Jesus in John 3.
(John 3:3-5). “Jesus replied, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born again…Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit’”.

We must be born again. (See my book on “Born Again – according to Jesus”). As born again, we see the Kingdom of God, then we enter the Kingdom of God.”  We don’t do things of the world which belongs to our old self, we do new activities which show that we are a new creation, or born again. As born again, we receive the Holy Spirit to guide us, to lead us and to protect us on our journey in this world.

Who is the Holy Spirit? While Jesus was still on earth, He promised the comforter, called the Holy Spirit. We got the Holy Spirit back in us because of the redemption that Jesus did on the cross.  It is important for a believer to know that the Holy Spirit now lives in him. The New Testament of the Bible will enlighten the reader on who the Holy Spirit is and His work with the believer. The four gospel (gospel means good news), Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John details the life of Jesus as viewed by four different authors inspired by the Holy Spirit. After the four gospel comes the epistles written by various authors again, inspired by the Holy Spirit. At this point we know that God saved us while we were still sinners through the redemptive work accomplished by our Lord Jesus on the cross. Let us now look at the shedding of the blood of Jesus and see how it is able to save us. There are five parts of His body that shed blood. The first shedding was when he perspired blood while praying to God the Father submitting His will to Him.  This became also the first part of the redemption process.  It was important that we submit our will to the Father. Did Jesus want to be on the cross? Of course not. How did we know that? He said, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from Me, yet not my will but Yours be done”.(NAS) This shedding of the blood represents His redemption of our disobedient will which started from Adam.

The second shedding of the blood was when he was beaten and tied to a whipping post. The Roman soldiers laid stripes after stripes upon his back until it was completely torn, and blood gushed out. Jesus shed this blood for our healing.  Isaiah said in 53:5, …”with His stripes, we are healed”.(KJV)
The next shedding of the blood was when the crown of thorns was placed on His head. Thorn and thistles was produced by the earth after sin entered into mankind. Thorn and thistle represents the curse that is on the earth. Jesus, by the shedding of His blood, redeemed us from this curse.
The fourth shedding of the blood was when he was in the cross at Calvary. His hands and feet were nailed to the cross representing the loss of our authority here on earth. By His blood, the authority was given back to us, thereby defeating Satan. Jesus said,

Amplified Bible (AMP)
John 8:36:
36So if the Son liberates you [makes you free men], then you are really and unquestionably free. The last shedding of the blood was when he was pierced on His side by the spear of a Roman soldier. This blood redeemed us totally from sin and death.

This completes the redemption process through the shedding of the blood. Without the shedding of the blood there will be no redemption, there will be no salvation.

To fully understand this redemption process, let us look at the person not redeemed by Christ. He did not give his will to the Father. He therefore does his own will. His body will be subject to sickness without the healing of Jesus. At this point I was reminded by the woman who has an issue with the blood. She was sick for 12 years. She spent all of her savings on doctors and medicine she believed could heal her. Finally, she had an unction to touch the hem of Jesus garment. She was healed. This story was told in three books, Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

3. What is the next step or the third part of salvation? Deliverance and Justification.
Deliverance and justification is where our work counts. The principle is simple. God will wash away all our sins through the process of deliverance. Justification is being a new person, acting as a new person, showing that the deliverance is taking effect

(Matthew 6:14-15). Saved (from sin) by asking Him for forgiveness just as we forgive others: “if you forgive others when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

God is asking us to forgive others as He has forgiven us. God is starting to teach us some principles to live by. God is starting to teach us the principle of sowing and reaping.  Forgive others their sins against you and God will forgive our sins. Wait a minute. Has God not forgiven all our sins when Jesus died on the cross? Yes. The problem is that the damage done by the past sins are still with us. We will go back again to the three persons of our example so that we will understand where we are in the process of salvation. A miracle happened, the three persons were saved. They repented, and ask Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior. Now, they lost their craving for their addictions. They now feel the peace of God and the joy of the redemption of Christ. Remember, they are still in bed. They are still suffering from the effect of the damage to their bodies done by years of addictions. They have to be delivered from past sins. This is the washing away process.

Now that Jesus is our Lord we follow Him. What does Jesus wants us to do:

(Mark 16:16) “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe
will be condemned”.

(Romans 6:3-5)”…all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life”. Baptism is part of our deliverance. Baptism is a witnessing tool where we tell the world that we are believers of Jesus. Baptism symbolizes the death and burial of Jesus as we are submerged into the water. Just as Christ is raised from the dead, we are also raised to live a new life.

(James 2:24) “You see that people are justified by what they do and by faith alone”.
Justification by works: This is where works come in. We are saved, but in order to be justified, our work should show it. If our work does not show the work that Jesus wants us to do we better ask ourselves whether we are saved or not. Paul mentioned it in

(Romans 10:9-10): …For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved”.

Justification starts from the heart believing in Jesus. You and God see your heart. Whether you believe or not, this is between you and God.

What if we make mistakes or sin after we are saved? This is where backsliding word becomes popular. We try to keep from sinning but our flesh craves sin. Even Apostle Paul who wrote almost half of the epistles, Apostle Paul who suffered greatly for Christ is not exempted to this process. This was what he said in:

Romans 7:15, “For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.”

We confess our sins to God and ask for forgiveness as soon as we know it. Part of the deliverance is the revelation of our sins. Justification is the confession and stopping the commission of that sin.

(1 John 1:9): “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”.

Confessing is praying to God and asking Him to remove that sin from our life. If it is a generational sin, pray that this particular sin be removed from your generations. (Generational sins are practices not acceptable to God done over and over by a region, a culture, or a nation without them knowing that it is an abomination or against the will of God.) If it keeps coming back, keep on praying.  We have authority over all the powers of the enemy and nothing should be able to hurt us. If it still persists God will lead us to a solution. God through the Holy Spirit will bring about the solution to your problem. You may be lead to a mentor who will help you solve your problem. You tell your mentor your problem. You would know if the solution is correct or not. You need to ask questions.  A mentor could be an individual or a group that has solved similar problem that you have. He could be your pastor, your trusted friend, or a counselor. Example of a group mentor is the “Alcoholic Anonymous” that helps individual with their alcoholic addictions. Churches now have “Celebrate Recovery” program that helps individual overcome drugs and other addictions.

The important thing to do now is to strive to reach the next process, Sanctification. People who enjoy the blessing of God settle at Haran like the parents and relatives of Abraham. All of them got the Word of the promise of God, “Go to the promise land”. When they reached Haran and enjoy the life there, they settle and did not want to continue. Only Abraham continued to move on. The Haran is the equivalent of the good life we experience because of the honesty and the integrity that the Holy Spirit taught us. When we do things right we prosper. The problem comes when we neglect the work that God specifically assigns to us through the talent that he gave us. This will bring us to the next part of salvation when we know the job that Jesus wants us to do.

4. What is the fourth part of our salvation. Sanctification and becoming a worker for
God.
The dictionary define sanctify as: To make holy, to set apart as sacred, to consecrate. To consecrate means to dedicate to the service of a Deity. To purify or free from sin. To entitle to reverence or respect. To make productive of or conducive to spiritual blessing. Please meditate and ask God through the Holy Spirit to help you in the sanctification process. The Bible speaks of sanctification: (Pray that you understand fully each verse given below)

•  Romans 6:19
I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification. Paul is telling us here that our flesh is weak because of its sinful nature. We used to be slaves to
impurity and lawlessness, but now he is urging us to walk in the righteousness of Jesus, following Him, resulting in sanctification.

•  Romans 6:22
But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life.

•  1 Corinthians 1:30
But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,

•  1 Thessalonians 4:1
[Sanctification and Love] Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. This one says to walk pleasing to God and keep excelling.

•  1 Thessalonians 4:3
For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; This one is very specific. No sexual immorality. Fornication is a form of sexual immorality. Fornication is having a sexual relation with a partner other than your wife or husband. Fornication is sex before marriage (see my book on marriage). This will hinder our sanctification process.

•  1 Thessalonians 4:4
that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, What Paul is saying here is self control.  Our own vessel is our body.

•  1 Thessalonians 4:7
For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification.

•  2 Thessalonians 2:13
But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.

One formula that this verse is telling us is to be always thankful to God. If you are a leader among your people give thanks to God for the people..

Hebrews 12:14
Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.

This particular one tells us to pursue peace. Sanctification is the process of our purification. It is a vital part of our salvation. Sanctification when reached, we see the Lord.

A sanctified person knows his talent and uses that talent for God’s work. A sanctified person has the confidence and the joy that Jesus promised to those who finished the course. In Revelation 12:11, “And they overcome him (the devil) because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.”

What do we become after we are sanctified? We become ambassadors for Christ.

(2 Corinthians 5:20)Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were beseeching (beseeching means making an urgent appeal) you by us: we pray you on Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.

As ambassadors for Christ, what do we do? Ambassadors do not live by the economy of the country they live in. They live by the rules of the country they come from. They protect their citizens who live in the country they are in. We are ambassadors from heaven. We gather and protect God’s citizens while here on earth. Earthly ambassadors are to have good reputations and good character. They must be a good servant of their country. We are ambassadors from heaven and we follow a more stringent requirement compared to earthly ambassadors.

2 Timothy 2:3
Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
We also become soldiers for Jesus. When Jesus mentioned being born again in the Kingdom of God, we become soldiers for him while here on earth. Soldiers have a different discipline compared to an ordinary citizen.

When we learn more about assembling together of the believer, we learn more of the functions of the individuals in the Kingdom of God.
Ephesians 4:11:
And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some,
pastors and teachers; ( Read Chapter 4 of Ephesians)
The above are jobs or assignments created by Jesus for us, depending on the gifts that we have. At this point we become mature Christians, knowing our strength and weaknesses, and are able to serve the Kingdom of God.

5. What is fifth part of our salvation?  Glorification

Glorification belongs to the Lord because everything is His. All in the universe belongs to Him. All the works of His hand:
Isaiah 60:21

Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified

In the New Testament, God is glorified because of the miracles that Jesus did:
Matthew 15:31

Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel.

Mark 2:12

And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.

Another reason God is glorified is when we bear much fruit, therefore we are His disciple:
John 15:8

Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples

Bearing much fruit is following Jesus and suffering with him which means doing the work that He assigned us to do. We are His disciples. Then what happened? We are also glorified with Him.
Romans 8:17

And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

Romans 8:30

Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Therefore, because of Jesus, we are glorified, we become children of God.
1John 3:2 states,

“…Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not been made known.  But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.”

1Corinthians 15:52,

“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpt for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

Glorification is the confidence we have in Jesus awaiting his return. When Christ comes we will put on an incorruptible body.
2 Timothy 4:7-8: Paul is talking;

I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them
also that love his appearing.

Verses believed by people why they will lose their salvation.
What about the verses quoted by avid Bible readers who believe that they will lose their salvation?: ( If you are a new student of the Bible, and you are not an avid reader of the Bible, I suggest you skip this part. The following verses are used by denominational preachers to hold on their subjects so that they won’t get out from their church or denomination. Remember my warning here, you must know the Bible from your own reading and not from what was taught or said to you by your preachers. My article on Basic Theology will make you understand your knowledge and relationship with your Maker.
a) Psalm 26:11 quoted by 2Peter 2:21 -22?

Let us analyze these verses a find out what they say in relation to our salvation.

Proverbs 26:11: (KJV)
11As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.

2 Peter 2:21-22: (KJV)
21For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
22But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

The fact that the dog return to his vomit, and the sow came back to her wallowing in the mire, mean that a person when compared to a dog or a sow did not change. This is the importance of being Born Again. Our personal being changed. We are no longer the same person we used to be. We used to be going back and eating our own vomit or used to be wallowing in the mud, but now our desire is different. The change comes from our heart. Physically we look the same, but the inside is different. All Born Again individual know that they are not the same person they used to be. The best natural example of this is the transformation of the moth to a beautiful butterfly. Even science cannot fully explain the transformation.  Gani, his real name, was an open gay, dating men and spending money for them because of his successful beauty parlor business.  After Jesus changed him, his desire for men vanished.  He testifies in churches, and organization who knew him before.  He tells them about his change in nature.

b) What about Hebrews 6:4-8 ?

Hebrews 6:4-8: (KJV)
4For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,
5And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,
6If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
7For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God:
8But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.

There is no other salvation except the salvation offered by Jesus when He died on the cross two thousand years ago. That salvation will change us when the Holy Spirit comes inside us. The proof of this is our work that gives us blessings in stead of thorns which at the end will be burned. That is why the third part of the salvation process brings deliverance from the bad work that we used to do. We have to be delivered from the past sins because there is no other salvation reserved for us.  Falling away is the rejection of Christ.

The answer or solution to this is given by the same author few verses down on Hebrew 6:11-12

Hebrews 6:11-12: (KJV)
11And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
12That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

The solution is not to be slothful. Slothful means sluggish; inactive, torpid, slack. idle, or lazy. We show diligence and we follow those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Don’t stop at the former verses and say, there you go, we lose our salvation. We have to keep on reading because the same author gives us the solution. Three words; diligence, faith, and patience.

c) Matthew 6:21-23

Matthew 7:21-23: (KJV)
21Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Verse 21 says that those who enter the Kingdom of Heaven are those who does the will of Jesus’ Father. Remember the first shedding of the blood of Jesus that gave us redemption? Jesus gave His will to the Father at the garden of Gethsemane. We need to submit to the will of the Father or else our work will be the “work of inequity”. Is prophesying wrong?, No! Is casting out devils wrong? No! What about the wonderful works done in the name of Jesus, is this wrong? No! When we submit our will to the Father our works will be because of love and compassion. It is not pride camouflage. Here is the real question? Do we know who Jesus is? Does He know us?
Verse 23 says that the people who were not known by our Lord were told to depart from Him. These are the people that work inequity or deeds of lawlessness.
Romans 8:1 says that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Let us work the assignment given to us by Jesus. If you don’t know it, ask, seek and knock until the door is opened. (Matthew 7:7).

Now that Salvation is completely defined, What must we do?

A. Believe that Jesus Christ was sent for our salvation.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

B. Through prayer, invite Jesus into your life to become your personal Saviour.

“For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:10)
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)

What to pray:
Dear God in heaven, I admit I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sin. I believe that He rose again after three days to be with You in heaven sitting at Your right hand. I thank You for forgiving my sins. I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I now invite Him to be in my heart and in my life. I thank you for the Holy Spirit who will be in me to guide me, protect me, and to lead me to the path of righteousness where You want me to be now and forever. Amen.

You don’t have to pray exactly that way. The elements of the prayer are asking of forgiveness, believing in Jesus, and accepting Him as your Lord and Savior. Thank Him for the Holy Spirit that you received. The following two stories were experiences I had that proved the power of the above prayer.

Story number one:
I have prayed for many people to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior but there was one lady that stood out among all of them. She’s a friend of the family. She’s a part time nurse working as an investor and a businesswoman. She does not have a church where she goes regularly although she believes she’s a “Christian.” I’ve known this lady for eight years before I felt the Holy Spirit asking me to pray for her. She was in my office. I prayed for her in my real estate office when she wanted to sell one of her apartments she bought from me. Two weeks after she prayed, she invited me, my wife, and my wife’s aunt to a dinner in a new restaurant close to where she lived. You know immediately that she’s not the person she used to be. She’s very jolly. She talks merrily with everybody. She has a personalized calling card to invite people to her church. She gave that to the waitress. Not very long after she got saved, she got married to a wonderful guy from her church. I saw how God blessed her personally and blessed her business.

After at least two years, we were in a party together, I asked her what happened that night after I prayed for her. She said she cried to the Lord and asked for the forgiveness of her sins. She repented and accepted that she is a sinner. When she woke up she was a different person. Jesus said: “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:5) “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Story number two:
My latest experience on the power of this prayer to people happened when I was in Boracay,Philippines recently. I was with our group of missionaries from the United States and we just finished our missions on two locations attended by at least 500 people. We decided to do rest and recreation (R & R) in Boracay. I have been there at least 2 times but this was the only time that I saw the beauty of the Boracay beach. The blue green water in a white beach with the background of the light blue sky.

It was 4 o’clock in the morning of the following day when I decided to walk the beach.

A gay prostitute, Paula, 18 years of age, approached me and started a conversation. He did not notice the Bible I was carrying lodge between my arm and my body in the armpit. I followed him to his place. He introduced me to a girl prostitute living in the room adjacent to his. After some time, about five minutes of our conversation, I brought the Bible and both of them were surprised. Paula, grabbed a pillow and covered her face as if he was seeing a bright light, while the girl was hitting him asking why he brought a man with a Bible. Moved by the Holy Spirit, I was able to explain to them the futileness of what they were doing. In a few years they will loose their youth and they won’t be able to continue. The prostitute cried, and said that two days ago she was walking the beach when she felt this urge to stop and go back home to her family. We prayed the prayer of salvation. This was the prayer above. There was a change in their countenance. Now they were excited to get others be prayed for. To pass forward my story, there were a total of 6 prostitutes we ministered that day. Three decided to go home immediately. After arranging their flight, they were gone after a few days. Paula was adamant and did not want to leave. He even said that those three will come back later on. After two weeks, Paula sent me a phone text asking for the wordings of the prayer that they prayed. She left Boracay and was already home with his family.

The above story tells me that anybody exposed to this prayer will change their life for the better sooner or later. I experienced the change myself. I experienced the joy and the peace of His salvation. From the time I was prayed for, the desire never left me to pray for others and tell them the salvation offered by Jesus.

C. If you have received Jesus Christ as your Savior, as a Christian you should:

a) Read your Bible every day to get to know Christ better.
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Psalms 119:105)
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” (2 Timothy 3:16)

b) Talk to God in prayer every day.
“And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” (Matthew 21:22)
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” (Philippians 4:6)

c) Be baptized. Worship, fellowship, and serve Jesus by starting your own Bible Study Group.
“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned”. (Mark 16:16)
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25)

d) Search your gift and use it for the Kingdom of God.
What ever your profession is, use it for the Kingdom of God. What ever your skill is use it for the Kingdom of God. This is where we become ambassadors and soldiers for Christ.

e) Tell others about Christ.
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15)
“For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!” (1 Corinthians 9:16)
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16)
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” (Matthew 28:19)

f) Give to yourself then give to others. This is the same as the second commandment Jesus gave “Love others as you love yourself”. If you don’t know how to love yourself, you won’t know how to love others. How do you love yourself? By giving to yourself. Give yourself what? Give yourself education in order to have knowledge, wisdom and understanding. Give yourself rest when you are tired. I used to be a workaholic. I did not know that life priority when I am married was God first, family second, business or job third. Buying wisdom is given in Proverbs. Pay for your seminars, training, buy books to read, concordances, dictionaries, computers, and whatever tools you can get your hands into to improve your research of the Word Of God.

g) Serve others by being good at what you do. You can be fulfilled in any job as long as it is legal, ethical, and moral. If you don’t know, ask Jesus. If you don’t like your job, ask Jesus. In serving others we must operate in love. Be positive all the time and see the talents of the person you are serving. Remember the grace and the mercy of God to forgive you, do the same to the people you are serving. The greatest in heaven is the servant of all.

D.  Know the vision, do the mission. Know what God is doing in the world, in your country and in
the community you are in.

God said, “Where there is no vision, the people perish…: (Proverbs 29:18) God always wanted to expand his Kingdom as explained in my book, “Catch the vision, do the mission”. Jesus gave the great commission after his resurrection. This is the most important assignment he gave to us before he went up to heaven:

Matthew 28:18-20

18And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, “All power is given unto Me in Heaven and on earth.
19Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, 20teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”
Amen.

Our mission is to tell the unsaved the blessing that we experience being in the Kingdom of God.  With love as our motivation, we don’t want them to miss the peace, the joy, the abundance, the confidence we have in our salvation through Jesus. Observe what Jesus said at the end…”. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” When we tell others about Jesus Christ, that is for sure, He will be with us always even to the ends of the age.

Proverb 3:5 says,

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart And lean not unto your own understanding In all
your ways acknowledge Him And He will direct thy path.”

What is God’s plan for your life? What is God doing on earth right now? How can you be able to serve Him? The answers to all of these questions rely on your relationship with Him which will be revealed to you by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, salvation is a process we go through so that our relationship with God will be restored. Then, we experience the eternal joy and happiness that only He can give.

Luke 15:7

I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.

Matthew 25:23

His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.

John 15:11

These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.( Jesus speaking)

Amen

Spiritual Warfare is the warfare between Satan and God. In the Book of Job we know that Satan talked to God. Satan said that Job worshiped God only because of the abundance that Job got from Him. God allowed Satan to remove all his earthly blessings. The only Job’s possession that Satan cannot touch is his life. Job proved himself faithful. And in the end, Job got double portion of the blessing from God.

There is still an spiritual warfare going on now. Now it is between Satan and Jesus. When Jesus died on the cross, He purchased us with His blood. Satan is a defeated foe. He knows that. The dominion and authority we once lost through Adam was recovered by Jesus. When we believe in Jesus and study His Word we already win the Spiritual battle.

The only way Satan can win against us is by hiding these truth from us. What truth? The Bible. This Book is the Word of God that tells us the whole story of Jesus (The four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) plus the epistles which follows after the Gospel. This book guides us and has power over the wiles and attacks of the Devil. But I cannot understand the Bible? Satan is smiling when you say that. Nobody, I will stress nobody can understand the Bible by himself alone. You need the power of the Holy Spirit to understand the Bible. Nobody in this earth could be a better teacher than Jesus himself through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. When you rely on Pastors, Priest, Rabbis, and any teacher claiming they can teach the Bible better than any Pastors, Priest, Rabbis, and any teacher, your knowledge is second hand. Specially, if you stop reading the Bible yourself. Truth number one accepted by all Christians, “Only Christ can save us in the Spiritual Warfare against Satan.” Who can save us is not the church nor the denomination. It is Jesus Himself accepting Him as our Lord and Savior. We must be born again as told by Jesus in John 3.

Prayer of Salvation: Please pray this prayer out loud to assure yourself of eternal life promised by God through Jesus.

Dear God in heaven, I admit I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sin. I believe that He rose again after three days to be with You in heaven sitting at Your right hand. I thank You for forgiving my sins. I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I now invite Him to be in my heart and in my life. I thank you for the Holy Spirit who will be in me to guide me, protect me, and to lead me to the path of righteousness where You want me to be now and forever.          

Amen.

Salvation is the result of the grace of God through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and not because of our work, it is the gift of God:

Apostle Paul again in (Ephesians 2:8-9) “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast”.

My book on Salvation gives you the process a person goes through to complete his salvation proven by the Bible in order to stay in the winning spiritual realm provided by Jesus. The complete definition will give you the mind set to find your gift and use it for the Kingdom of God.

Amen

 Praise the Lord! You have the desire to read the Bible. Let us pray. ” Dear God in heaven, I thank you for giving me this inquisitiveness to learn from your Word. I thank you for letting me know more of You. I ask for Your Holy Spirit to guide me in this journey. Let me experience the joy beyond understanding to gain the knowledge and wisdom you have reserved for me.” Amen.

If you are an avid reader searching for more truth, then jump to item 7 and up. Review 1 to 7 to check which one you missed.

For the beginners’ information, the Bible is divided into two major division, The Old Testament, and the New Testament. Check the table of contents to see the books in each division.

If you are a beginner, which means that this will be your first time reading the Bible, I recommend that you start reading the life of Jesus Christ given by the four Books of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. If you insist on reading the Old Testament, read the Book of Proverbs by King Solomon and the Book of Psalm by King David. For a student, I recommend a Study Bible available at Christian Book Stores. (Specifically, I found Zondervan NASB Study Bible to have the informations I was looking for.) 

This chapter deals with the fundamentals that a disciple needs to learn and practice in his study of the Bible in order to grow in Christ. The 12 list below does not have to be followed in order. Check if you can find in the list some basic fundamental that you have not done yet:

1. Use the right Bible. There are many versions of the Bible in English; King James Version (KJV), New American Standard Version (NASV), Amplified Version (AMP) and others. When I started reading the Bible, I was reading the King James Version and I enjoyed it. The Holy Spirit guided me in the study. I am excited reading and when question comes, I just ignored it and continue reading. On church preaching or in Christian magazines I found the answer to the questions and the more I get excited reading the Bible because of wisdom and understanding I just received. Later on I found out that other versions of the Bible are more understood by other people. Version of the Bible which is easily understood by you is the right Bible for you. There are many translations of the Bible in different language and dialect. You may find them translated in your own language or dialect. Philippine Bible Society translated the Bible in Tagalog.

2. Develop Good Study Habits. Set a time when you can study the Bible without interruption. This could be very early in the morning or late at night whichever is applicable to you. Don’t do a schedule just because somebody else is doing it at that time. If you are a morning person, who sleeps early but wakes up early, I suggest that you study in the morning. If you are a night person, who wakes up late but sleeps late, I suggest you do it before you go to bed. If you are the owner of your business and you can select your own time, I suggest that the phone be off, and all let your secretary know that you don’t want any interruptions. Carry a pocket book Bible all the time. Read it whenever, wherever you have the opportunity to read it. When we had our own Bible study, I started using the concordance and The Interpreter’s Bible as references. 

3. Prepare the Heart. Matthew 7:7 said, “Ask and it shall be given to you.” Pray that God cleanse our heart. This means that when we read the Bible, we remove preconceived ideas and read to learn. This is the importance of reading the Bible one chapter at a time. When you stop, put a marker where you stop and continue reading next time you open your Bible. We let the Bible teach us.

4. Confess the Word concerning the Scripture
Confessing the word concerning the scripture is the verbal activation or saying out loud the word of God. Scriptures that are memorized are said loudly to stop the attacks of Satan. Attacks of the flesh are laziness, boredom, lack of enthusiasm, lack of understanding, lack of energy. Stop and rest, confess the Word. Confessing the Word binds Satan. Confessing the Word of God overcomes the lies of Satan and of the flesh.

5. Bind Satan from interfering and ask the Father to loose the Holy Spirit to minister. Because we are still in the physical realm where trials and tribulation are present, binding Satan and his demons is essential to effectively function in the purpose that God wants us to do. We are given the authority to command Satan in Christ name. Bible Study is important to know the scripture and fight Satan with the Word of God instead of our strength. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, …” Eph. 6:12. We need the Holy Spirit to be loose in our life to combat the attacks of Satan. In Romans, Paul called it as walking according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh. Satan is a defeated foe but he can still influence Christians due to lack of knowledge. The two verses below helped me in my journey in life.

Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” New American Standard Bible (NASB) 

Mark 10:27: “Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” New American Standard Bible (NASB)

6. Don’t get sidetracked. Be focused. Be consistent in your time for Bible Study. Trust that the Lord through the Holy Spirit will guide you in your Bible Study to make it effective. Quality time is better than the quantity of time spent on the study of the Word. Do not condemn yourself when the mind start to wander. Focus needs practice.

7. Read systematically under the Holy Spirit guidance, and be alert to what He will teach you. Listening to the Holy Spirit during the study of the Bible is essential. At this point I ask the Holy Spirit directly on what He wants me to learn that day. After I opened the Bible, I have faith that He will answer.

8. Record insights, ideas and questions. I record the insights that I get during my personal Bible Study. I found out that when I come back to it, I got refreshed. More often than not, I got straightened or corrected on possible errors I have in my thoughts. Recording is important so that we don’t lose all those valuable time locating verses of scriptures on some special topics that are important.

The following is when you find somebody you can study the Bible with:

9. Start with a book in the Bible that both of you agree. Agree how many verses each will read. Read to someone out loud and /or listen while they read to you. This is the importance of the Bible Study Group. The more senses we use in the study of God’s Word, the better. If you have somebody read aloud
to you, you are also using your sense of hearing.

10. Discuss with someone what you are reading and what the Holy Spirit is teaching you. Discussing the Word of God with other believers can gain new insights. I remember studying a particular verse of the Bible for 4 hours in the morning. I was excited because I was getting new insight. During the group Bible Study, I mentioned the verse but before I was able to give my insight, somebody interpreted the verse and I agree 100% on his interpretation although this verse was just presented to him and he did not spend 4 hours to study it. He blurted out the answer and my heart says, that’s the correct interpretation.

Find out what the Bible is telling you. Look for commands to obey. Tell others what you learned.

11. Receive the Word with an open and submitted heart. In my experience in number 10 above, If I did not have an open heart, I can easily say that my interpretation is better because I used more tools to find out the answer and I spent 4 hours to get it. I have to submit myself to the Holy Spirit when He told me that the interpretation and answers given by my brother is better than my insight. Open and submitted heart means that we are always ready to learn from the Lord. The opposite of this is having a closed mind, not willing to learn new teachings because what we have are enough. We must be teachable when it comes to the Word of God.

Find out what the Bible is telling you. Look for commands to obey. Tell others what you learned.

12. Promotion from Holy Spirit’s direction. I love to start home Bible Studies with people who are hungry for the Word of God. I had a Bible study that lasted for 5 years. I had a tremendous growth myself in the knowledge and wisdom from the Holy Spirit. There was never a dull moment. Promotion comes when we develop leaders to be facilitators. Facilitators lead Bible Studies. More facilitators, more promotions will be given by the Holy Spirit. But remember, to whom much is given, much is required.

Please read: How To Do Home Bible Study With 10 People or Less.