THERE IS MUCH THAT JESUS SAYS ABOUT BEING "BORN AGAIN".
IN FACT, JESUS SAYS THAT "EVERYONE WILL BE BORN AGAIN".
HOWEVER, JESUS WAS VERY CAREFUL IN MAKING DISTINCTIONS AS TO "WHO" OF THE BORN AGAIN WOULD BE "SAVED".
SO, THAT LEAVES US WITH THE QUESTION;
"IS EVERYONE THAT IS BORN AGAIN SAVED"??
JESUS GAVE US MULTIPLE WAYS OF ACHIEVING, AND OBTAINING GOD'S GRACE, WHICH LEADS TO OUR "SALVATION".
JESUS GAVE US HUNDREDS OF "DO'S & DON'TS", AND, HE ALSO WENT INTO GREAT DETAILS ABOUT "WHO WOULD BE BLESSED", AS WELL AS "WHO WOULD BE CURSED".....
YET, HE GAVE US ONLY "ONE RULE" ON WHO WOULD BE "SAVED".
AND SO, THIS BEARS REPEATING;
"EVERYONE WILL BE BORN AGAIN", BUT, JESUS ALSO SAID THAT "NOT EVERYONE WILL BE SAVED".
AS I READ THE GOSPELS, WITH THE "EXCEPTION" OF THE PROMISES JESUS HAD MADE TO HIS DISCIPLES, THERE IS ONLY "ONE PLACE" WHERE JESUS ACTUALLY SAYS TO ONE SPECIFIC "INDIVIDUAL" THAT;
"THIS DAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE".
THOSE WORDS WERE "NEVER" SPOKEN TO ANYONE ELSE, AND, THOSE WORDS WERE ONLY SPOKEN "ONCE"!
IT'S THE ONLY ACTUAL TIME THAT JESUS SAID TO ANYONE, THESE WORDS OF "PROMISE", AND A "GUARANTEE" THAT THEY WILL "BE WITH HIM IN PARADISE", AND THOSE WORDS "WERE NEVER PROMISED, OR GIVEN TO ANYONE ELSE THAT JESUS EVER SPOKE TO DIRECTLY".
WHY NOT??
WHY WOULD JESUS ONLY SAY THOSE WORDS TO "ONE PERSON"??
WHAT MADE "THAT PERSON" SO SPECIAL??
WHY DIDN'T JESUS SAY THAT TO "EVERYONE"??
WASN'T THAT THE REASON JESUS DIED ON THE CROSS - FOR EVERYONE??
IT SEEMS A LITTLE STRANGE THAT JESUS ONLY SAID THOSE EXACT WORDS OF PROMISE TO ONLY ONE PERSON...DOESN'T IT??
AND, THE PERSON HE SAID IT TO HAD A "GUARANTEE" THAT THEY "WOULD BE IN PARADISE THAT DAY"!!!
WHAT DID THAT PERSON DO TO GET SUCH A "GUARANTEE" FROM JESUS IN THE FIRST PLACE??
WELL, LET'S LOOK AT THE CONDITIONS, AND THE SITUATION AT THE TIME THAT JESUS MADE THAT "PROMISE".....
1st) JESUS WAS "ON THE CROSS" WHEN HE SAID IT.
2nd) JESUS KNEW HE WAS ABOUT TO "DIE".
3rd) THE PERSON JESUS SAID IT TO WAS "ALSO ABOUT TO DIE".
SO...WHAT IS THE "COMMON THREAD", AND THE "CONDITION" OF THE SITUATION WHEN JESUS MADE THAT "PROMISE"???
IT WAS "ONLY" WHEN THEY WERE "DYING"!!!
DID JESUS EVER SAY THOSE WORDS OF "PROMISE" DIRECTLY TO ANYONE ELSE AT ANY OTHER TIME "WHILE THEY WERE LIVING"???
NO!!!!
HOWEVER, JESUS "DID" CONSTANTLY SAY TO "INDIVIDUALS" ON MANY OCCASIONS THAT "YOU ARE NOT FAR FROM THE KINGDOM OF GOD"........YET - THAT'S "NOT A PROMISE", IS IT??
JESUS NEVER SAID TO ANY OF THOSE "INDIVIDUALS", OR "GROUPS", AT ANY TIME, THAT THEY WERE 'ABSOLUTELY GUARANTEED' SALVATION, OR ABSOLUTELY GUARANTEED THAT THEY WERE 'SAVED', OR ABSOLUTELY GUARANTEED THAT THEY WERE GOING TO 'THE KINGDOM OF GOD'.
JESUS SIMPLY SAID; "YOU ARE NOT FAR FROM IT".
AND, ALL THAT MEANS IS; "YOU'RE ON THE RIGHT TRACK (PATH), AND IF YOU STICK TO THAT PATH YOU 'MIGHT' ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD"........
BUT, NOWHERE DOES IT SAY ANY "GUARANTEES"....DOES IT?
IN OTHER WORDS; "JESUS NEVER GUARANTEED TO ANYONE THAT THEY WOULD BE SAVED, IN THE KINGDOM, OR IN PARADISE" - EXCEPT "ONE TIME", WHEN HE SAID IT "ON THE CROSS".
AND, WHO DID JESUS SAY IT TO??
HE SAID IT TO A "THIEF & ROBBER" THAT WAS ON ANOTHER "CROSS" NEXT TO JESUS AFTER THE THIEF HAD SAID: "WE ARE GUILTY OF OUR SINS, AND DESERVE OUR PUNISHMENT - BUT, THIS MAN (JESUS) IS INNOCENT"!! - "REMEMBER ME WHEN YOU COME INTO YOUR KINGDOM"!!
THE THIEF'S NAME WAS "DISMAS", AND, HE WAS THE 1st "SAINT".
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The
Penitent thief, also known as the
Thief on the Cross or the
Good Thief,
is an unnamed person mentioned in the
Gospel of Luke who was
crucified alongside
Jesus and asked Jesus to remember him in his
kingdom,
unlike his companion
the
Impenitent thief.
He is traditionally referred to as "
St. Dismas".
In different Christian traditions different names have been given to the thief:
The Penitent thief, also known as the Thief on the Cross or the Good Thief,
is an unnamed person mentioned in the Gospel of Luke.
YEP....THAT'S ALL IT TOOK FOR THIS "SINNER" TO GET INTO THE "KINGDOM OF GOD".
BUT, WAS HE "IN" THE KINGDOM OF GOD YET???
NO!!!!.....HE HAD TO "DIE FIRST", JUST LIKE JESUS HAD TO DIE FIRST!!!
AND, JESUS COULD ONLY "FULFILL THAT PROMISE" AFTER BOTH OF THEIR "DEATHS"!!
JESUS WAS THE "1st BORN" FROM THE DEAD IN HIS RESURRECTION.
"DISMAS" WAS THE 1st SAINT EVER WRITTEN ABOUT IN THE BIBLE.
OF COURSE, AFTER JESUS' DEATH, HE ALSO BROUGHT SEVERAL THOUSAND PEOPLE "OUT OF THEIR GRAVES", AND, "OUT OF HADES", OTHERWISE KNOWN AS "HELL", OR "SHEOL".
WHILE MANY OTHERS EITHER WENT STRAIGHT TO HEAVEN, OR WILL FOLLOW JESUS THERE AFTER THEIR DEATHS, NOT EVEN "LAZARUS" WAS "BORN AGAIN" IN THE TECHNICAL SENSE OF THE WORD.
LAZARUS WAS SIMPLY "SLEEPING", AND JESUS "WOKE HIM UP".
BUT, WHEN LAZARUS WAS "KILLED" AFTERWORDS, HE ALSO WAS RESURRECTED ALONG WITH THE OTHER GRAVES THAT WERE OPENED UPON JESUS' DEATH THAT DAY....AND, THEY WERE ALL "BORN AGAIN".
YET, THE ONLY ONE ACTUALLY NAMED WAS "DISMAS" - THE THIEF ON THE CROSS WITH JESUS.
DID JESUS SAY TO THE THIEF; "YOU ARE NOT FAR FROM THE KINGDOM"???
NO!!
JESUS SAID; "IN FACT" - 'THIS DAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME'.
THAT'S A "PROMISE"!!!!
AGAIN I'LL ASK; DID JESUS SAY THOSE WORDS TO ANYONE ELSE??
NEVER!!!
WHY NOT?? - BECAUSE "THEY WERE BOTH DYING"!!
AND BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE WAS "DYING", THEN, NO ONE ELSE COULD BE "BORN AGAIN" EITHER, AND CERTAINLY THEY COULDN'T POSSIBLY BE "SAVED" EITHER UNTIL THEY "DIED & WERE BORN AGAIN"!!
BUT, AGAIN...BEING "BORN AGAIN" IS NOT A GUARANTEE OF BEING "SAVED" EITHER, AS "EVERYONE" IS BORN AGAIN!!!
IF IT WERE THAT "SIMPLE" THAT ANYONE THAT'S "BORN AGAIN" IS SAVED.....WOULDN'T JESUS JUST "SAY THAT"???
JESUS SAID; "I AM THE TRUTH, THE LIGHT, AND THE WAY".
WOULD HE "NOT TELL US THE TRUTH"??
OF COURSE HE TOLD US THE "TRUTH"....
WHICH INCLUDED THAT "NOT EVERYONE IS SAVED"!!.....
YET - EVERYONE IS "BORN AGAIN"!!
IT'S CALLED THE "FIRST & SECOND RESURRECTIONS", WHICH ARE PRECEDED BY THE "FIRST DEATHS" LEADING TO THE "SECOND DEATHS".
THE "FIRST RESURRECTION IS THE RAPTURE OF THE SAINTS, WHO CANNOT TASTE THE SECOND DEATH".
THE "SECOND RESURRECTION IS THE JUDGEMENT DAY OF THE REMAINING MANKIND THAT WAS NOT RAPTURED IN THE FIRST RESURRECTION, AND ARE SUBJECT TO THE SECOND DEATH".
SO, IN OTHER WORDS; HOW CAN JESUS FULFILL SUCH A "PROMISE" OF SALVATION TO THE "THIEF" ON THE CROSS WITHOUT THE THIEF "DYING FIRST"??
SO...IN ORDER TO BE "BORN AGAIN"...YOU MUST DIE FIRST!!!
AND THIS WE "ALL MUST DO", THEREFORE, WE ARE "ALL BORN AGAIN", EITHER IN THE FIRST RESURRECTION, OR THE SECOND RESURRECTION, AND, BY JESUS' OWN "RESURRECTION" WE HAVE PROOF THAT THERE IS A "RESURRECTION"...THUS, ALL ARE BORN AGAIN!!
BUT, NOT ALL ARE "SAVED".....AS SOME ARE SUBJECT TO THAT "SECOND DEATH".
IT IS CERTAINLY "LOGICAL" THAT THE "PREREQUISITE" OF BEING BORN AGAIN IS "DEATH", AS PROVEN BY "JESUS & THE THIEF ON THE CROSS".
SO, THIS IS CERTAINLY "NOT FIGURATIVELY SPEAKING"...THIS IS "ACTUAL DEATH"!! A PHYSICAL DEATH!!!
AND, EVEN IN THIS "CERTAIN DEATH", THERE IS ABSOLUTELY "NO GUARANTEE OF SALVATION" WITHOUT "FORGIVENESS & CLEANSING THROUGH THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST", WHO IS "THE WAY".
THERE IS CERTAINLY A DIFFERENCE IN "BEING SAVED", AND BEING BORN AGAIN TO "EVERLASTING LIFE IN PARADISE",
AND, BEING BORN AGAIN TO "EVERLASTING SHAME AND CONTEMPT IN HELL"....JESUS HIMSELF SAID SO!!
JESUS MADE THAT "DISTINCTION"!!
AND, WHILE MAKING THAT DISTINCTION, JESUS DOES GUARANTEE THAT "EVERYONE IS BORN AGAIN", BUT,
NOT EVERYONE IS "SAVED"!
WHILE AN INDIVIDUAL "MAY NOT BE FAR FROM THE KINGDOM", AS JESUS HAD SAID MANY TIMES...NOT EVERYONE IS "GUARANTEED ENTRY", ARE THEY??
JESUS SIMPLY SAYS; "YOU'RE NOT FAR FROM IT".
THERE IS CERTAINLY A DIFFERENCE IN BEING "CLOSE" TO THE KINGDOM, AND BEING "GUARANTEED" THE KINGDOM, ISN'T THERE?
SO...I'M BACK TO MY FIRST QUESTION, WHICH IS THE TITLE OF THIS BLOG;
"I'M BORN AGAIN, AM I SAVED"???
THE ANSWER REMAINS THE SAME AS WELL; >>> "MAYBE, MAYBE NOT"!
WHILE YOU MAY NOT BE FAR FROM THE KINGDOM OF GOD, EVEN AT THE GATE TO THE KINGDOM OF GOD, YOU'RE STILL NOT GUARANTEED ENTRY TO THE KINGDOM OF GOD LIKE THE "THIEF" WAS, ARE YOU???
