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Jesus loves souls, a love so strong.
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Jesus, God the Son loves us, our souls, to the extent that we
"shall not perish" (see NASB Jn 3:16) if we believe in Jesus... Blog will explain and introduce additional essentials.
A good beginning for this Home Page of my blog is to say hi and to somewhat explain the phrase above:
"shall not perish." Most people who have read or heard the KJV (version) know that it reads
"should not perish." Another version renders literally
"may not perish." The easiest and most readily obtained clarifying explanation appears two verses later, in Jn 3:18--"He who believes on Him
is not judged..." It doesn't read
should not be judged or even
may not be judged. The fact of verse 18 is that the believer
is not judged. This makes it clear why verse 16 goes that the believing soul simply
shall not or
will not perish (again, see NASB). I just now used the word 'simply' but as you may guess, 'it isn't all that simple'. Merely believing in Jesus or in the name of Jesus isn't enough. In James 2:19,"...the devils also believe, and tremble." I will definitely treat the subject further in future posts. Also, in the post below, I share the essentials for entering the kingdom of God. Let me point out that if you have the wisdom/belief/heart for entering God's kingdom, you are already past the need to worry about perishing.
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Next I wish in this Home Page to get right to the point about how a person, a living soul, may enter the kingdom of God. Love is the key. One may argue that it is not love but faith. "By faith you are saved" (may enter the kngdom) is the argument made by some. Yet the more you dig into the Bible the more convinced you become that God (in Romans 12:3 and Ephesians 2:8) or God the Holy Spirit (in I Cor 12:9--read surrounding verses too) supplies the faith you need to have. To see that love is the more important thing for us to foster than anything else can be understood by taking a good look at the whole chapter 13 of I Corinthians and specifically verses 2 and 13. So love is right there at the top, but
love in general (Matthew 22:39) is not the only love God requires of us. Matthew 22:37-38 explains that it is the love of the LORD that is the first and greatest rule that you need to apply in your life experience. "How do I achieve the love of the LORD, the love of Jesus?" You may ask this. My capsulized answer is go to church, and seek counselling by the pastor, elder, deacon. Plus study the verses (and their surrounding verses) until you understand the issues. And I recommend that when you visit your pastor or counsellor, take along a copy of this blog to discuss with him. He may have a copy of
his blog to discuss with you! In subsequent posts I will address issues of what does faith mean, how can I say Jesus loves souls, and souls are to love Jesus, baptism's importance and role, and other topics.
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Thanks and may God bless, Jim
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2009.04.01
2009.03.01
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Some details about salvation and love.
In my header I stated that I would definitely treat the subject of those who will not perish, that it is not as simple as simply believing. From a close study of Scripture one finds that it is not so much a personal effort to have faith that leads us to salvation, but rather what the Lord expects, even requires, of us is love. In Matthew 22:37 Jesus sets forth as a commandment the love that we are to develop. The way I read the verse is that we should endeavor to love the Lord as strongly as we can which means as strongly as we are able to. And if we really love the Lord Jesus, we surely do believe! Then in Matthew 22:39 is set forth the second greatest commandment, and the way I expound on that is to say that we are to foster a love for our fellow person as wholeheartedly as we are able: a beautiful, selfless love is the desirable kind of love, and this love includes even loving our enemies! The act of confessing our belief, and the subject of baptism is beyond the scope of this blog. I urge you to read your Bible about these things, and moreover to read thru the New Testament. That is an effort which I believe is very much worth the time spent. And church attendance, yes!!
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Monday, March 23, 2009
What a Future Love!
Before this blog becomes actively visited, or for the meantime, I am not going to blog/preach but rather print some anonymous poems for your (I hope) enjoyment. So here is the first one, called, "What a Future Love!"
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We have love of Jesus that with time increases
As devotion of Him accelerates.
But of future emotions we have no clear notions
Of how strong and powerful they will be.
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Sometimes feelings, heavenly appealing,
Point to love that is much stronger than wine.
So we sip our feelings, understanding really
That our intoxication is sublime.
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What a future love for my Jesus Christ.
Kind of like my feelings deep inside
But much more clear, intensified.
My future love for my Jesus Christ;
Like a love that within each church it unifies, not to separate.
Within His rules God seeks to bring in the searchers,
Desires to set them straight.
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Jesus does love our souls, more than we can know: Eph 3:19,"...the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge..."
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Jesus loves souls, a love so strong.
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On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,
