The Day of Salvation

Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture from 2 Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 7:1  Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Many times people who profess Christianity have a misconception of biblical promises. To obtain promises requires effort on your part. If you were going to go to work for a week at a job somewhere, the foreman would give you a promise that he would pay you so much at the end of the week’s work. To obtain his promise, you would have to show up for work and do as you are told. You’d have to obey his commands and do the duties that he requested of you. At the end of the week, the promise that he gave you is obtained when you are rewarded with a paycheck! Eternal life is a reward for those who faithfully serve God while here upon the Earth. The Apostle Paul had the same understanding. He knew that he had kept the faith, and exactly where he stood with God. He knew that there would be a crown waiting for him in heaven, because he had done the will of God from his heart.

2 Timothy 4:7-8  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.

The Christian life is a daily walk of obediently serving God’s will. It’s not just one step, it’s many steps that are placed together. Imagine someone preparing themselves to run in a marathon, but when the starting gun fires, they run for a few miles, and then sit down on a park bench. That sounds ridiculous doesn’t it? How would they ever cross the finish line? How would they ever obtain the prize? A marathon isn’t just one step by itself, but many that are placed together. Such is the Christian Life. God gives us the precious promise of obtaining eternal life, but what we need to do is start running, and never stop, striving to win the eternal reward that will be given to those who obediently served His will.

I have always taught that God is a rewarder. If you want a reward from Him, you need to find a private place and secretly pray to him. If you want a reward from Him, then you need to secretly fast before Him. If you want a reward from Him, you need to give alms secretly to the poor. Obviously before the reward is granted, these activities need to be done first. But in today’s modern society, they seem to have everything backwards. In today’s day and age, people want the reward first, and then not do nothing at all. I call it lackadaisical Christianity. In many false forms of false Christianity they heretically teach that somehow they have already attained eternal life, and that there is nothing else that is required on their part in order to attain heaven. What unspiritual foolishness! The Apostle Paul warned the church that he didn’t live his life in this manner. 

Philippians 3:11-12  If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

We are given precious promises in Scripture, so very precious, that you would think that out of a love for our precious Lord Jesus and what He did for us at the cross, people would want to walk according to His will. But every day that passes, it is looking more like the world in the days of Noah, when this impenitent were destroyed in the flood. 

To obtain the promise of eternal life, we must perform the will of God from our hearts, and those who say otherwise are liars and deceivers. There is a process of salvation that each of us must go through. It begins on the day that we are baptized by complete submersion, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. But these are only the very first steps in a lifelong commitment and walk with God. To get all the way to the finish line, we must do the will of God from our hearts, and no one is exempt from that fact. It’s going to require many steps of steadfast obedience.

Take for example, to climb up onto your roof, you will need to use each rung on the ladder. You will have to carefully climb step by step to get all the way to the top. To obtain eternal life, we must do the same, taking a step each day, walking in the will of God, and keeping our eyes focused on the final destination and the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Our lord Jesus died to take our sins away, but now we have to take that gift and amend our ways. It’s a process of sanctification that we must endure and is proved through our actions. We must go through the refiner’s fire, purifying our hearts from sin in order to overcome the deeds of the flesh. I guarantee you, that if you do not repent, it doesn’t matter if you profess Christianity or not, you will certainly not inherit the kingdom of God. Repentance is so important that some people will claim Lord Lord at judgment Day, arrogantly assuming that they will be let in, but will be cast away from the presence of God forever. These people will profess to be followers of Jesus, claiming that they have done many good works in His name. But the most important work that they refused to engage in, was the mortification of their sinful nature. Like the leaders of Jesus day, they want to appear religious to others, but their hearts are far from God. They never loved the Lord enough to stop sinning. What they possess is an impenitent outward form of religion rather than a humble transformation of one’s heart. To obtain a promise, you need to reap it by your actions. God promises that He will be a Father unto us, but before we can reap that promise, action is required on our part. We must come out and be separate.

2 Corinthians 6:17-18  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Here is a command and the conditions set forth, so that one can obtain the promise that He has given. Likewise, we are given the promise of eternal life, but to obtain it, we must cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. 

Normally in the spring, you can watch as many people walk around their homes with a spray bottle and some rags. They step up on a stool, and begin to clean off all of the dirt from their windows. They strive with great effort, zealously scrubbing them until they are perfectly clean and without a spot. We too must cleanse our hearts from all filthiness of the flesh, ridding our lives of any type of impurity, so as to attain perfect holiness in the sight of God. To attain perfect holiness, we must possess the fear of God. Those who have the fear of God understand the eternal repercussions for sinful behavior. They understand that God is going to punish the wickedness of this world. On the other hand, people who do not fear God, are not going to repent. People who do not fear God, are not going to do His will. People who do not fear God, are not going to be contrite and humble. People who do not fear God, are not going to confess fault. This is because they are arrogant and proud and filled with the attributes of the devil.

Years ago there were many different places I attended that did not believe in hell or everlasting fire. Some people who profess to be Christian, don’t want to believe in God’s eternal punishment, simply because they don’t want to repent. So instead, they choose to believe a lie, convincing themselves that there is no need for them to change. It’s akin to children who are participating in things that they know they shouldn’t be doing, but continue to do them anyway. The reason why is because the dad never bothers to set them straight and correct them. They feel that their dad isn’t going to punish them, so they continue doing what they are doing. Don’t confuse God with your dad, because GOD’S wrath is soon approaching upon this sinful place and will be something like this world has never seen before. 

The Apostle Paul was a kind meek man, but if you stirred him up, he was ready to bring a rod. Our Lord Jesus is precious and meek, but if you stirred up his kindness, He threw over tables and whipped people. One day the rebellious party will come to a grinding halt, and every knee shall bow before Him. There will be weeping and wailing when true justice prevails. 

God doesn’t want men to perish, He wants them to repent. Make haste to amend your ways and submit to the will of God now before it’s too late. Use the treasure of God’s grace to benefit your eternal soul. Take advantage of God’s precious gift, by turning from the darkness to walk in the light. Don’t put it off, because today truly is……

……The Day of Salvation.

Let’s think about these things for right now.  We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️

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