Ready To Save Remember This First
Before you read the passages about saving money below, cut back your expenses, or set aside another dollar, itâs essential to remember this about money:
Worship with your wealth, but donât worship your wealth.
This phrase is more than a punchy platitude. This phrase is rooted in the Apostle Paulâs words to Timothy: âAs for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoyâ .
The evil of money is no respecter of persons, and the temptation to sin with money is not reserved for the rich alone. Yes, you may be tempted by the seduction of success and always want more, but you may also fall victim to desiring what others have.
In both of these scenarios above, hope is misplaced in money and possessions, and not in God. Thereâs a big difference between the two, and your bank statements will give you a non-judgmental view of your heart.
Now, even though we shouldnât worship wealth, God leads us to worship with our wealth.
From tithing in the Bible to talking about stewardship, God has revealed his will for the way he would like to manage our money for his glory and our good.
When it comes to these passages , God doesnât hold back. Instead, he provides a ton of practical and relevant advice we can follow to save and invest our money well.
A Love God Love Your Neighbor
One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?” Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?” The man answered, ” ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ “”Right!”Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”
1. Love God.
2. Love Your Neighbor.
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Jesus told His Parable of the Good Samaritan ” rel=”nofollow”> Luke 10:25-37) to show that a “neighbor” includes all people of the world, even those of different nationalities and religions, even enemies. In His description of the Final Judgment ” rel=”nofollow”> Matthew 25:31-46) Jesus stated explicitly that our salvation depends on doing whatever we can to help other people in need.Loving God and loving our neighbors are inseparable concepts we can’t truly love God without also loving other people ” rel=”nofollow”> 1 John 3:15-18, , ).
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Bible Verses About Being Saved
Harvest is past, summer is ended,And we are not saved.
Salvation is far from the wicked,For they do not seek Your statutes.
Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth For I am God, and there is no other.
Israel has been saved by the LordWith an everlasting salvation You will not be put to shame or humiliatedTo all eternity.
At the acceptable time I listened to you,And on the day of salvation I helped you.Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation
and so all Israel will be saved just as it is written,The Deliverer will come from Zion,He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.
I hope for Your salvation, O Lord,And do Your commandments.
nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.
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Getting Saved Is Not About Going To Heaven
Most often, when Christians use the word saved we think about the following concepts:
- getting forgiveness of sins
- believe that Jesus is God,
- believe that Jesus died on the cross, and rose again from the dead
- believe that we are sinners and that Jesus died for our sin on the cross
- etc, etc, etc.
But did you know that the word saved are rarely used to express any of the concepts above? The closest we get is Acts 16:31, Romans 10:9-10, 1 Corinthians 15:2, and Ephesians 2:5-9, and I am not convinced that even in these passages, the word saved means getting forgiveness of sins so we can escape hell, get eternal life, and go to heaven when we die. Taking a detailed look at each of these texts is beyond the scope of this blog post, so let me just summarize what the word saved means in the Bible.
Cremation & The Catholic Church
Its understandable that many people are confused about the Catholic Churchs views on cremation.
Anyone familiar with the religion knows it has changed its policies on a number of principles over the years, including cremation.
As mentioned, the church did not believe in the cremation procedure because they associated it to the Romans and Greeks who they considered to be Pagans.
These two cultures did not believe in the afterlife and used cremation when disposing of their dead.
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What Does The Bible Say About Money
The bible says many things about money, but the heart of the matter is this: money can become something that rules our livesâan idol ofsorts. God’s desire is for us to have life to the full andHe knows that worshiping money will keep us from that.
From the seduction of success to the lure of lust, many things in this world will vie for your affection and devotion. But the most significant idol you will face is money .
Is It Worth The Shot
The answer to this question depends on who you listen to. Vaccine advocates will tell you that it is beneficial while anti-vaxxers will tell you they dont. With so many self-proclaimed experts out there, its really difficult to sift the truth from lies.
Perhaps, it is worth noting why some people are against vaccines. Here are some of them:
I found a video on YouTube from AsapSCIENCE titled, Debunking Anti-Vaxxers. To see the two sides of argument, I recommend you watch this as well:
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People Committed Suicide In The Bible
Let’s begin by looking at the seven accounts of suicide in the Bible.
Abimelech
After having his skull crushed under a millstone that was dropped by a woman from the Tower of Shechem, Abimelech called for his armor-bearer to kill him with a sword. He did not want it said that a woman had killed him.
Judas
After he betrayed Jesus, Judas Iscariot was overcome with remorse and hung himself.
In each of these instances, except that of Samson, suicide in the Bible is presented in an unfavorable light. These were ungodly men acting in desperation and disgrace. Samson’s case was different. And while his life was not a model of holy living, Samson was honored among the faithful heroes of Hebrews 11. Some consider Samson’s final act to be an example of martyrdom, a sacrificial death that allowed him to fulfill his God-assigned mission. Whatever the case, we know that Samson was not condemned by God to hell for his actions.
Does God Forgive Suicide
There’s no doubt that suicide is a terrible tragedy. For a Christian, it is an even greater tragedy because it is a waste of a life that God intended to use in a glorious way.
It would be difficult to argue that suicide is not a sin, for it is the taking of a human life, or to put it bluntly, murder. The Bible clearly expresses the sanctity of human life .
God is the author and giver of life . Scripture says God breathed the breath of life into humans . Our lives are a gift from God. Thus, the giving and taking of life ought to remain in his sovereign hands .
In Deuteronomy 30:11-20, you can hear the heart of God crying out for his people to choose life:
“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life…â
So, can a sin as grave as suicide destroy one’s chance of salvation?
The Bible tells us that at the moment of salvation a believer’s sins are forgiven . When we become a child of God, all of our sins, even those committed after salvation, are no longer held against us.
The Apostle Paul made it plain in Romans 8:38-39 that nothing can separate us from God’s love:
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B We Are Not Saved Just By Following Rules
Jesus said we must strive to go beyond the Ten Commandments in our practice of love for all people. What He asks is true concern and caring, not mere compliance with a set of rules. Not only must we not murder ” rel=”nofollow”> Exodus 20:13), we should avoid even holding a grudge:
“You have heard that the law of Moses says, ‘Do not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the high council. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.”
Not only must we not commit adultery ” rel=”nofollow”> Exodus 20:14), we should avoid entertaining even the thought of it ” rel=”nofollow”> Matthew 5:27-29). Not only must we not steal ” rel=”nofollow”> Exodus 20:15) and not envy what others have ” rel=”nofollow”> Exodus 20:17), we should focus our lives on God, not on earthly possessions ” rel=”nofollow”> Matthew 6:19-21). Not only must we not give false testimony ” rel=”nofollow”> Exodus 20:16), we should even avoid evil thoughts and speech ” rel=”nofollow”> Matthew 12:35-37). Not only must we be considerate to the poor ” rel=”nofollow”> Deuteronomy 15:7-8), we should treat them as we would treat Jesus, Himself! ” rel=”nofollow”> Matthew 25:31-46).
A Once Saved Always Saved Can We Lose Our Salvation Can We Be Saved Without Good Works
However, the overall weight of Biblical evidence points to the conclusion that a person who goes on willfully sinning has either intentionally abandoned his or her faith or never sincerely made a faith commitment in the first place. True faith involves a commitment to trust God and to do our best to live according to His commandments:
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Are You Struggling With Full Assurance Of Salvation
The more you get to know God intimately, the closer you approach the light. The more you understand how holy He is the more you will appreciate how sinful you are. I used to struggle with having full assurance of salvation. Some days I would be so confident of my salvation. Then some days I would be so depressed. I was living in idolatry because my joy was coming from my performance.
Dont allow your joy to come from your performance on your walk of faith. Allow your joy to come from the perfect merit of Jesus Christ alone. I prayed for full assurance of my salvation and after weeks of wrestling with God He finally gave me full assurance. I am confident that when I die I will go to Heaven because Jesus died for me. Do not attempt to find hope in yourself. The more you get to know God and become aware of your sin the more you should rejoice.
God pours out His grace in abundance. You know you cant save yourself. Jesus is all you have. Its either Him or nothing. God allowed me to realize that. God loves me and nothing that Satan says will ever change that. In the paragraphs above I talk about sin a lot because there are many professing believers who are living in rebellion and sin. I dont want to see anyone separated from God. I am compelled to preach repentance.
26. 1 John 5:13-14 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
B Practice Good Works
In , Paul said, “For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law.” In other words, our salvation comes through our faith, not, as was commonly believed at the time, from obeying the Laws of Moses. However, Paul’s teaching has sometimes been interpreted as meaning that if we have faith, nothing else matters we don’t need to do “good works”, that is, obey God’s commandments, in order to be saved. However, that was not Paul’s interpretation at all. He said if the Spirit of Christ is truly within us, we will turn away from evil deeds:
Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. If your sinful nature controls your mind, there is death. But if the Holy Spirit controls your mind, there is life and peace… So, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation whatsoever to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you keep on following it, you will perish. But if through the power of the Holy Spirit you turn from it and its evil deeds, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
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C What About Predestination
1. Predestination – the Calvinistic View
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called those he called, he also justified those he justified, he also glorified.
In we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.
The modern doctrine of predestination is largely the work of French theologian John Calvin . Calvin believed that the people God has selected to be saved are irresistibly called into His grace all others have no chance of salvation.
2. Free Will – the Arminian View
free will
The concept of free will predominates in the Bible. Throughout the New Testament, people are portrayed as having the power and responsibility to choose or reject salvation ” rel=”nofollow”> Matthew 5:21, , , , , , , ). A number of verses also suggest that salvation is potentially available to all persons, not just a predestined group:
The majority of Christian churches adhere to some variation of the Arminian view of salvation.
How Do We Receive Salvation
When I bought an engagement ring for my wife, it did not make us engaged. I still had to pop the question and she still had to receive my gift. In the same way Christ has done what is necessary for us to be saved, but that gift is not appropriated apart from faith. This is what the Bible teaches in Ephesians 2. We are dead in our trespasses and sin, and God makes us alive. When our eyes are opened to the beauty of the gospel and the accomplishment of Christ our only fitting response is to respond in repentance and belief.Repentance and belief are really two sides of the same coin. Repentance means that we are changing our mind about God and about ourselves. We are laying down our own foolish efforts to save ourselves. We are turning away from self-sufficiency. At the same time we are turning towards Christ. We trust that He alone is the one who can save us. We are entrusting ourselves to him.This is why the Bible says it is . Faith is simply that which links us to Christ. Its that which reaches out and grabs ahold of the work of Christ. And, as it has often been said, a weak faith is able to lay ahold of a strong Christ. The most important aspect of our repentance and faith is not its own veracity. The most important aspect of our repentance and faith is its object. When we place our faith and trust in Christ the Bible says we are saved. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, Joel 2:32 .
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