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NewsDay

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Understanding the nature of salvation

Opinion & Analysis
Worldy thoughts and ideas should never find resting place in our minds. We refute them by the Word of God. As soon as evil ideas come across, we knock them off by speaking the Word.

THROUGHOUT the pages of the Bible, the story runs of how protected and defended the saved are. Born -again believers are safe and victorious. The truth has to break the walls of satanic lies, worldly contrary suggestions and situations and circumstances in order to partake of the joy of salvation freely delivered to us by the finished or accomplished work of Christ.

The Bible puts it succinctly in 2 Corinthians 10:5, Amplified, “[In as much as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One),” The world presents us with opinions, suggestions and philosophies that sound sensible and practical.

Any thought or idea that contradicts the Word of God has to be rejected. It’s a spiritual warfare.

The preceding verse of the context of the verse we just quoted above clarifies it for us.

We read 2 Corinthians 10:4, “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) The warfare is our thought life.

Worldy thoughts and ideas should never find resting place in our minds. We refute them by the Word of God. As soon as evil ideas come across, we knock them off by speaking the Word.

Remember please that Christianity is a speaking faith. As born-again believers, we have to mould our thinking pattern to align with the Word of God.

James 4:4 advises, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” The thinking pattern of the world opposes the Word.

We don't hate the world as universe but as an ideology. As a habitat, we love the world.

Jesus said in John 3:16, “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.”

We love our unsaved fellow human beings to the extent of going all out to have them saved from eternal death.

Divine matters or spiritual things are not logical on the human or natural world scale. We don’t waste our time trying to hammer the rationale to the unsaved or as the Bible puts it, spiritually dead.

Our hearts should always burn with a passion to get the Gospel across to the unsaved. Jesus died for them as much as He died for us. He loves us all. It's their spirits which need awakening or regeneration.

Apostle Paul tells us about the state of the unborn spirit in 1 Corinthians 2:14, Amplified, “But the natural, non-spiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them [of progressively recognising, understanding and becoming better acquainted with them] because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated.”

Wisdom guides us in our dealings with the unsaved.

While we do a proper defence of the Gospel, we don’t argue at an academic level with the world.

We also don’t justify the Christian Faith by the miraculous because the world has miracles also.

Scriptures guide us, 1 Corinthians 1:22-24, “[22] For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: [23] But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; [24] But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.”

We function at a higher platform. 1 Corinthians 2:13 is instructive, New King James, “These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”

When Jesus is properly presented, hardened and stiff-necked hearts melt. Jesus is the Saviour of the whole world.

Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. Grace and peace be multiplied to you through knowledge.

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