Hello, John and Doves,As we approach that mysterious date fixed in stone--the date for the rapture, that date that nobody knows--consider that God has never withdrawn, altered, or in any way hindered His own 2-for-1 Special."16For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in himshall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."
___________________________________________________Of course, we would be irresponsible not to ask about conditions, consequences, etc.!It is written,"18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God."[btw, commentaries for the various verses can be found at the bottom of each verse's unique page--just click on the verse's number when you get to the John 3 page.]_____________________________________________________Just so the deal is clear, Rabbi Shaul writes,"1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."_______________________________________________________
A clarification of faith:"Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see."________________________________________________________God requires faith, but He also recognizes the one who has faith." 6And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him."_________________________________________________________How, then, do we access God's free gift of faith?"1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.6There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
9The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15(John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ”) 16Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known."
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Thus, it is written,
"5Moses writes this about the righteousness that is by the law: “The person who does these things will live by them.” (Leviticus 18:5)
6But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ " (that is, to bring Christ down--Deuteronomy 30:12)
7“or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead--v. 13).
8But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” (v. 14)that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” (Isaiah 28:16)
12For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Joel 2:32)
14How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Isaiah 52:7)
16But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” (Isaiah 53:1)
17Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ."
_________________________________________________What is the "word about Christ," in a nutshell?"1Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures...."
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If we believe that Christ died for our sins, and that His resurrection is the firstfruits of all those who believe, then our gratitude informs our attitude toward life. To repeat,8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."____________________________________________________For deeper study: http://www.crbaptist.com/sermon/sermon/Paul's%20Gospel%20-%20Part%2021.pdf?CFID=128419&CFTOKEN=41643063_____________________________________________________~Blessings,Mike