FEATURE ARTICLE
|
Thursday, September 3, 2020 |
[email protected] Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
ith great delight I welcome you to the month of September, our Month of Salvation. That you are reading this piece is evidence that God has wrought a type of unfathomable Salvation for you. Physical salvation from all manner of death, particularly the death that passed through the earth in the past few months due to the highly dreaded coronavirus.
"And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob" Ex 2:23-24. Most times we are crying to God for salvation whenever we are in danger or bondage and he responds because of his loving kindness but you will agree with me there is a spiritual salvation which we sometimes ignore or take for granted because we love this world. The spiritual salvation that deals with eternity that has the ability to position you in heaven or if rejected send people to hell is ignored. This salvation is a gift: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast" Take this gift and celebrate it. This month I want you to commit yourself to God to secure your passport and visa to eternity with Jesus-through the salvation process, making Jesus the author and finisher of your life. Also, this month from Sept 17- 20,2020 we shall be having *International Gathering Eagles Conference* as a virtual meeting. Please watch out for the details of this important event. Our theme this year is *Discipling Nations* This the vehicle for taking the salvation message and the good news around the world. I pray that salvation shall be yours and that of your entire family today in Jesus name. Grab your salvation now!
What is Salvation?To be saved is a coded language by Jesus Christ which means to be born again! Jesus answered and said unto him, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God". Jn 3:3
Salvation is not complicated.Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it." - Mark 10:15
A child simply puts their trust (faith) in the father's strong arms. Likewise, we entrust our life to Jesus Christ-believing on Him and His finished work on the cross. The Apostle Paul defined the message of the Gospel (good news) like this-"For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures," - 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 . Jesus Christ, the perfect, sinless lamb of God, laid down His life and took the penalty meant for us, dying in our place (Isaiah 53:6). He paid the debt we could not pay and redeemed us (bought us back) from the power of sin and death. John 1:29, Gal 3:13 / Rom3:25. Salvation is accepting what Jesus accomplished for you and I on the cross! You are adopted or born into the family of God� a royal family. "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not." 1 John 3:1.
Salvation is receiving forgiveness for all our sins."He will turn again; he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea." Micah 7:19. Once your sins are forgiven, you are clothed with the righteousness of God by faith in Christ Jesus. The Greek word for salvation is "zozo" which means deliverance. Salvation that Jesus procured on the cross is not limited to salvation of your souls it is holistic - spirit, soul and body.
Why must I be born again (saved)?In this western world where you have access to worldly amenities like great technology, uninterrupted internet, good infrastructure, running water, constant power supply, a solid health system, functional insurance system, many people view those who are saved and love God as people who really do not get it.
I have to confess - when God prompted me to relocate to Canada, one of the concerns as a Pastor is what am I going to preach about? Where I come from its easy to gather people and motivate them to pray to God for what the government should provide but didn't. However, many people in a knowledge economy aren't saved because they do not understand everything that they MISS from not having Jesus Christ as their Master.
The second category, when they get sick, he heals them. And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. Ex 23:25. Who Has The Power to Save? There are many religions on earth and all lay claim to have capacity to save but that cannot be true. How then do you know the true one? A drowning man cannot be saved by a person who does not even know how to swim! Check through all the people, you will find that only Jesus was born without human seed like you and myself, meaning the only one from heaven. Only Jesus died on the cross. Only Jesus resurrected� and only Jesus ascended to heaven in full sight. That is why Peter said : Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved, Acts 4:12. Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me .Jn 14:6. Check any other religion and see who has made such claim-None!!! A Quick Word on This Directly From Jesus
Be Ready to Defend Your Salvation. Many of us are complaining now about the killings and persecutions of Christians. Be ready for more. Prepare yourself and your children for martyrdom. Sincerely I don't know where we got this bread and butter Christianity mentality. Read you bible you will see the religious leaders planning to kill Jesus, everywhere he went. The more miracles he did, healing their children, raising the dead the more they thought of killing.
Then the Pharisees called a meeting to plot how to kill Jesus. Matt 12:14; So, from that day on they made plans to put him to death. The apostles were persecuted and all died as martyrs. Jesus says they hated him and they will hate you. Therefore prepare to face challenges but have this assurance God will be with you all the way.
The ABC of Salvation - How to be saved.One of the most important question of your life you must ask is "what must I do to be saved?" Paul ask Jesus that question when he encountered Christ on the way to Damascus's - "What will you want me to do Lord?" The same Paul was asked the question by the jailors. "And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved." Its like Paul said it as simple as ABC! "And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house". Acts 16:30-31 This past weekend we went to Chatham, Ontario to celebrate first birthday of our grandson, Nehemiah with their parents Toyin and Joshua Crandell. I decided to take his 5-year-old sister Maranatha for a walk. Holding my hand and feeling good, I said "can you count numbers", she said "yes". Okay count 123 for me. She said "123". Is that all you can count?" She said "no, but you said I should count 123, so that's what I did!" Salvation is that simple. Of course, there are many ways you can give your life to Christ but why make life complicated when it can be simplified? What is ABC of salvation.
If you have done this with a genuine heart, congratulations. You are a new person now!
What do you do after you are saved?When someone get saved, they need to continue in their faith. It's not enough for someone to simply make a profession of faith in the gospel message. They need to continue in their faith for the rest of their human life. If they abandon their faith it manifests that their faith was never genuine from the start. Join a bible believing church. Read your bible daily and observe to do what is inside. Learn to depend on God through your prayer and remember to fellowship with Gods people.
Conclusion.Paul said "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief" That is the story of Amos Dele Dada when in February 10, 1977 when I gave my life to Jesus. And that could be your story if it is not already so and guess what? There will be a party in heaven when you make that decision, now. 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 Lk 15:7. Today make Jesus your Lord and be saved and you and your household and generations to come will not regret it. Oh I am enjoying salvation in Christ! Shalom. Special Note - If this is the first time you are confessing Christ please get in touch with us and we are willing to assist you in this eternal journey. www.cacbethel.com; [email protected] Important Notice. This year International Gathering of Eagles Conference is a virtual conference meaning without extra money from the comfort of your home in any nation you can participate. Do your best to go to www.cacbethel.com and www.igoeministry.com and you will have logging details. It is a four day program from Sept 17-20,2020. You will be glad you attend. If you want to support the conference financially you can donate at the website above.
|
NEWS SECTIONS
|