Where there is no obedience to the commands of Christ – no life-application of the truths taught by the word of God – then there never was a salvation experience. This takes us to the very core of why there is a plan of redemption in the first place. God is perfect and complete in every way. He needs nothing from us. In fact, He doesn’t even need us.
When Jesus refers to the rock in Matthew 7 (and again in Luke 6) to whom or what is He making reference?
Maybe the greatest sermon ever is the Sermon on the Mount, preached by Jesus and recorded by Matthew in chapters five – seven of his gospel. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus describes the characteristics, the lifestyle, and the behaviors of those who have been blessed by the grace of God.
Forgiveness is such a challenging concept that the only one who can truly succeed at it is God. Forgiveness on our part requires that we submit to the authority and power of God. Only by doing so can we truly forgive.
I am convinced that forgiveness is an attribute that belongs uniquely to God. Only God can do it. There is no other power in the Universe that can forgive. It is that hard. Only He can heal such glaring wounds that tear our hearts and bruise our souls. We are powerless against them.
Even though we are in such close proximity to God, because He is Spirit, we would never know He was there apart from revelation. That revelation comes by way of the incarnation of God in the person of Jesus Christ. He is the doorway into the kingdom.
In an earlier article, I wrote, “…if we are wrong in our understanding of the theology of God, then all of our other doctrines are equally as wrong. The knowledge of God is fundamental and foundational to all other beliefs.” I believe the same thing is true of our understanding of the kingdom of God and how Jesus fits into God’s plan for that kingdom.
To simply believe that Jesus is Lord or is the Son of God is not sufficient to gain salvation. There are thousands or maybe millions of people in church (and not in church) who profess to be Christians bound for heaven simply on the basis that they believe.
The knowledge of sin in a biblical sense comes from a personal encounter with the word, or the Word, of God. Thus the first step in repentance is not sorrow for sin, but revelation – a decision made, not by man, but by God.
Part 2: The first step in repentance is not admitting one is a sinner, but having a personal encounter with the living Christ.
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