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Safety of our Salvation
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Posted by: angelofthelord
Jesus' account in Luke 16, of the rich man and
Lazarus was one of the passages in the Bible that had a profound impact on
shaping what God has called us to do with our life. It is a powerful
contrast of someone that had nothing in this life, yet upon his death was
forever with God, and someone that had everything you could ever want in
this life yet upon his death was forever separated from God.
Death is the great equalizer. If Bill Gates would
die without accepting Christ into his heart, like the rich man in Luke 16,
the moment he dies he will be eternally separated from God. All of his
billions, all of his great accomplishments, all of his "good works," will
not matter. The moment he dies there is only ONE THING that will matter,
and that is if he has accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.
Likewise, if a homeless man in Chicago dies but knows Christ as his savior,
like Lazarus, the moment he dies he will be eternally with God his Creator.
The fact he had no money, or no possessions, or never did great things in
his life will not matter. The moment he dies there is only ONE THING that
will matter, and that is if he has accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and
Savior.
Let me share with you an interesting observation about this passage of the
rich man and Lazarus that the Holy Spirit showed me many years ago. For the
beggar Lazarus to be eternally with God he had to be "saved." That means
someone took the time to share with him the fact God loved him and he could
have a personal relationship with God. Lazarus obviously made the choice to
accept God into his heart and life.
As for the rich man, one of two possibilities exist. The first one is
nobody ever took the time to tell him about God's love. He lived his life
without anyone ever approaching him about his eternal soul. The second
possibility is that he was told about God's love and simply chose to reject
it. The fact is he died without God in his life and that is why upon his
death,
he was eternally separated from God.
My word for you today is this. If you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, are
you simply living your life in the safety of your salvation? What that
means is are you satisfied that you are saved, have the assurance of
everlasting life, and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with the lost in
this world is simply not a priority in your life? Only you can answer that
question. Please take a moment right now and ask yourself if you are simply
living in the safety of your salvation.
The reality is there are lots of
people that do not know Christ as their Savior. They are literally on a
conveyor belt heading straight for hell, an eternal separation from the God
that loves them so much. If you know Christ in the pardon of your sins, if
you have the assurance of everlasting life, are you doing all that you can
to help the lost find a personal relationship with Jesus?
Somebody saw the need in Lazarus' life and
shared God's love with him and he got saved. Chances are people saw all
that the rich man had and never considered that he needed God in his life.
The fact is, EVERYONE needs salvation. It is God's desire that ALL come to
repentance and NONE be lost. God is calling you today to leave the safety
of your salvation, and reach out to the lost and hurting in this world with
the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Posted by: akabezalel
Hi!
Jerry has addressed this in one of his lessons...
http://www.annointed.net/ForumTopic_10122__15.htm
In my experience giving up "Eternal Security" was the hardest mind shift I ever had to do.