Jud 1:5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
Why do we need to remember this? Because too many people hold fast to the fact they were born again and then seem to believe that because they were once saved- they are always saved. They believe that after their initial born again experience they have no more need to concern themselves with whether or not they are saved. The Hebrew people freed from slavery were SAVED. They longed for a deliverer and they had one in Moses. The Lord had sent Moses to free His people and He did just that. They were freed and they traveled far away from Egypt. During that journey did all those who were saved stay saved? No. Why didn't they? They'd been set free through numerous miracles. God was there right there with them. God Himself spoke in their hearing and they were so scared they asked Moses to intervene for them. They WITNESSED all this FIRSTHAND! They weren't told things and then told to believe them by word of mouth, they were witnesses to the many miracles and sadly it wasn't enough for a lot of them. Given proof unlike proof any of us have ever had they still turned around and decided NOT to believe. In the face of the proof they threw it all away. They faced hardship after hardship and because they'd been called to a life of intense hardship when they wanted a life of ease in their new found freedom, they rebelled. They didn't want to believe in this miracle working God who had freed them because that freedom wasn't the type of freedom they wanted. They wanted to live in sin, not in the love God's mercy. They didn't believe God's love was what they really needed. They didn't believe they needed God to live, they believed they could do it all on their own without God.
God does NOT force anyone to believe in Him and those who do NOT believe are left to their own devices.
LIFE is found in our God- eternal life is found NO WHERE else!
If we believe that life is found anywhere else we are horribly mistaken.
If we don't believe we will NOT have eternal life, it's that simple.
Only by the grace of God do we even live at this moment. Our very life affords us the opportunity to believe.
If we choose not to believe while we are alive- why should it matter if God chooses to destroy us? If a person doesn't believe in God then they won't believe that God can destroy them- right? If He doesn't exist then He most certainly cannot destroy them. You hear people say they don't want to believe in a God who could destroy someone, allow someone to die. And yet they turn around and blame this God they don't want to believe in for that very thing. If they don't want to believe that God is a God that knows good and evil and IS good, then that's their choice. If they don't want to believe in a God that chooses good over evil then God won't make them. There is a right and wrong, a good and evil, a light and dark, a black and white- these are facts. God will never EVER destroy good. He will allow Satan to use evil, look at the story of Job, but eternal life is the promise of all who suffer under the fires of Satan in this world.
We suffer a temporary suffering, and I'm not belittling the suffering- for some it is horrific beyond anything we can imagine or want to imagine. We do suffer, but we have a promise for a life without suffering.
Evil will be destroyed.
People who choose evil over God will be destroyed.
Evil people have been destroyed and will continued to be destroyed, and ONLY God knows if someone is evil, ONLY God knows, we have NO way of knowing the end from the beginning. We can't know if someone who commits evil acts will ever repent of them, that's not in our power. God does know. God KNOWS.
We cannot live our lives as if there is no such thing as evil. And if we do believe there is evil we must believe there is good. If we can admit to believing in evil and good then we should understand that we choose one or the other and we do so often. Our so called bad choices are evil choices, we soft pedal the word evil by covering it up as being just bad. Being bad sounds less evil, but in truth, evil is evil and we need to repent of all the evil in our lives- choosing good over evil.
No one can make another believe in God, it will never be anything forced, ever. We all will make the choice - no one will be exempt. You can choose not to believe but don't choose not to believe and then be surprised when that choice results in eternal death.
By the grace of God may we PLEASE be HIS, Believing in HIM always! All by HIM, all through HIM! His LOVE!
Why do we need to remember this? Because too many people hold fast to the fact they were born again and then seem to believe that because they were once saved- they are always saved. They believe that after their initial born again experience they have no more need to concern themselves with whether or not they are saved. The Hebrew people freed from slavery were SAVED. They longed for a deliverer and they had one in Moses. The Lord had sent Moses to free His people and He did just that. They were freed and they traveled far away from Egypt. During that journey did all those who were saved stay saved? No. Why didn't they? They'd been set free through numerous miracles. God was there right there with them. God Himself spoke in their hearing and they were so scared they asked Moses to intervene for them. They WITNESSED all this FIRSTHAND! They weren't told things and then told to believe them by word of mouth, they were witnesses to the many miracles and sadly it wasn't enough for a lot of them. Given proof unlike proof any of us have ever had they still turned around and decided NOT to believe. In the face of the proof they threw it all away. They faced hardship after hardship and because they'd been called to a life of intense hardship when they wanted a life of ease in their new found freedom, they rebelled. They didn't want to believe in this miracle working God who had freed them because that freedom wasn't the type of freedom they wanted. They wanted to live in sin, not in the love God's mercy. They didn't believe God's love was what they really needed. They didn't believe they needed God to live, they believed they could do it all on their own without God.
God does NOT force anyone to believe in Him and those who do NOT believe are left to their own devices.
LIFE is found in our God- eternal life is found NO WHERE else!
If we believe that life is found anywhere else we are horribly mistaken.
If we don't believe we will NOT have eternal life, it's that simple.
Only by the grace of God do we even live at this moment. Our very life affords us the opportunity to believe.
If we choose not to believe while we are alive- why should it matter if God chooses to destroy us? If a person doesn't believe in God then they won't believe that God can destroy them- right? If He doesn't exist then He most certainly cannot destroy them. You hear people say they don't want to believe in a God who could destroy someone, allow someone to die. And yet they turn around and blame this God they don't want to believe in for that very thing. If they don't want to believe that God is a God that knows good and evil and IS good, then that's their choice. If they don't want to believe in a God that chooses good over evil then God won't make them. There is a right and wrong, a good and evil, a light and dark, a black and white- these are facts. God will never EVER destroy good. He will allow Satan to use evil, look at the story of Job, but eternal life is the promise of all who suffer under the fires of Satan in this world.
We suffer a temporary suffering, and I'm not belittling the suffering- for some it is horrific beyond anything we can imagine or want to imagine. We do suffer, but we have a promise for a life without suffering.
Evil will be destroyed.
People who choose evil over God will be destroyed.
Evil people have been destroyed and will continued to be destroyed, and ONLY God knows if someone is evil, ONLY God knows, we have NO way of knowing the end from the beginning. We can't know if someone who commits evil acts will ever repent of them, that's not in our power. God does know. God KNOWS.
We cannot live our lives as if there is no such thing as evil. And if we do believe there is evil we must believe there is good. If we can admit to believing in evil and good then we should understand that we choose one or the other and we do so often. Our so called bad choices are evil choices, we soft pedal the word evil by covering it up as being just bad. Being bad sounds less evil, but in truth, evil is evil and we need to repent of all the evil in our lives- choosing good over evil.
No one can make another believe in God, it will never be anything forced, ever. We all will make the choice - no one will be exempt. You can choose not to believe but don't choose not to believe and then be surprised when that choice results in eternal death.
By the grace of God may we PLEASE be HIS, Believing in HIM always! All by HIM, all through HIM! His LOVE!
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