Man, if that isn't a tough question!? We cannot be saved; we are only able to reconcile. We cannot earn our way to Heaven, and we can only earn the merits of living a good life. Entrance to Heaven is predicated on one central idea, LOVE. Specifically, love of all people.
Man, if that isn't at tough question!? We cannot be saved; we are only able to reconcile. We cannot earn our way to Heaven, and we can only earn the merits of living a good life. Entrance to Heaven is predicated on one central idea, LOVE. Specifically, love of all people.
tough question!? We cannot be saved; we are only able to reconcile. We cannot earn our way to Heaven, and we can only earn the merits of living a good life. Entrance to Heaven is predicated on one central idea, LOVE. Specifically, love of all people. tough question!? We cannot be saved; we are only able to reconcile. We cannot earn our way to Heaven, and we can only earn the merits of living a good life. Entrance to Heaven is predicated on one central idea, LOVE. Specifically, love of all people.
In John's Gospel, we read that whoever does not love cannot be with the Father. Whoever loves will be on team Jesus and be welcomed into the dwelling of the Lord.
What Paul and Barnabus are shown to do in the book of Acts is a demonstration of love as an action verb. It is through their love that they bring in the Gentiles to the community of God. Hey, that's us! The idea that rules and regulations have to be at play gets run up the chain and discussed with only a few stipulations, most of which were already Mosaic laws for Jews anyway, it became watered down for us Gentiles and thank you God for that. It wasn't that we must follow these rules for Salvation; however, they are guideposts to developing the tenderness of heart, the strength of will, and servitude needed to be one of God's chosen ones.
See, the Holy Spirit is what guides our ability to live life in love or without love. Hell is the absence of God's love and those of us in this world who experience no love stand no chance of knowing the Real God. Here lies the difference between the gods of the ancient world and the God of Abraham. Nations like the Phonecians had their rule wrapped up in gods in practice but not in any human emotion other than fear. God- YHWH, only operates in universal terms, and the only universal feeling experienced by every human is love. Do you see how this works yet?
Proof of Heaven-
Now, I am not going to circle back to Dr. Eban Alexandar's book, but check it out if you haven't!
I am going to talk about one of my choir members. He was dead two times after a failure of a newly placed pacemaker and an accidental puncture of his lung. He came back to rehearsal after several months of recovery and described dying as one of the best experiences he could ever imagine. It was nearly impossible to describe except for this: "There was no pain, I could feel but no pain. The sky was a beautiful blue, and it was the most peaceful thing I could have ever imagined. If that's Heaven, I want to go back there."
So let us not wrap our selves in RULES. Yes, there are limits, but those limits allow us a framework to expand and grow into the full measure of our creation. What the living God wants from us is to live up to our full potential. We must use every fiber of our being to build a world worth living in because we only get one chance. Let us make it a good trip!
Peace,
-Matt
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