We are saved by grace throught faith apart from our working of the Law. Our/His faith is reckoned as if it were personal righteousness -- and we are saved, in part, because of that consideration on the part of God. Few - many? Well, I believe scripture, Linda. A whole bunch of people will be saved via the gracious consideration of the Lord. A whole bunch more will be lost, choosing to serve the created rather than the Creator.
I like what you've said. Very nice. Sadly, some people will say that the saints in the Older Testament exercised their faith by keeping the Mosaic Law while we [the Renewed Covenant saints] exercise ours by obedience to Christ... as if they looked forward to Yeshua's sacrifice while we look back.
Yes and thanks. Wouldn't you say that salvation by grace through faith has always been the will of the Lord? If what we see as Divine Projections (such as Christ dying for our sins at a certain time) is, in fact, God's reality, then salvation based upon the condition of the heart and the consideration of faith for righteousness has always been what God is about. I mean, look to David in that 51st Psalm. He contrasts animal sacrifice with brokenness and contrition. The latter does not eliminate the former, but it does declare the former not to be the condition upon which our salvation is based. God calls us all to obedience, but saves us anyway !!!!!! "Go thy way and sin no more" will always be the advice of the Lord -- and it will always come after we are forgiven/saved.
Imagine this; God creates mankind. He wants this creation to love Him, to seek Him out, to prefer Him. And He accomplishes this by seeking us out, walking in the garden, talking to Abraham -- planning his future, making a military hero of Gideon, appointing the Baptist, correcting and calling Paul, lifting you up in your Messianic's ministry and helping me to understand Linda Shields. And all along, He knows that this creation idea of His would impact Himself as well as the whole of creation -------------- He would, in our time, have to experience some things He had never had to experience: learning how to walk and talk, saying "yes" when you as God on Earth thought it best to do something else ( "My time has not yet come" verses "do it anyway"), being tempted by someone you created, dying ! ! !, putting your trust in the hands of another and waiting for the resurrection, supplied by Another. All this and perhaps more -- the Great God Almighty becoming like us, whom He created, so that we might become like Him. Becoming like God. Whoa. It seems to me that becoming like God would demand His uncondiitional forgiveness as we stuggle to to become. Think about it; for US to be like HIM -------------------- how off the mark would we be as we compare ourselves to this Great God Almighty? Think of the viod that exists at the beginning or even the ending of this process. Unmerited grace IS THE ONLY SOLUTION. On a good day, we are nothin like Him, right? Nothing. He had no choice but to simply say, I forgive. I am sorry, but if we do thus and so, how close to Being Like God (Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect) are we? And so the man says, we have sinned and continually fall short of His glory.
Anyway --- sorry, I was really thinking out loud.
Pastor John
