[TruthTalk] [Fwd: [Fwd: What I believe...............and what I do not believe]]

[Terry Clifton]

For your information, Raymond. Consider this an introduction to what Terry Clifton believes, written with far too little fore thought, simply recording on paper  the things that swirl through my mind. ................................................................................................................................. I believe that I am not a Baptist, or a Catholic., or even a protestant. I do not claim to be an Armenian or a Calvinist or  any other thing except a follower of my Lord Jesus Christ. If you must put me in a category, refer to me as a narrow  minded fundamentalist. Fundamentals are things that affect  our salvation. Things that we must believe. Things that will be believed if one has faith. I believe  that all have sinned and therefore all need a Savior. I believe that you must turn from your sin in order to be  forgiven. I believe in the virgin birth. I believe that  Jesus is the Christ, the son of God. I believe that the gate is small and the path is narrow. Not everyone goes to  Heaven. Not even most people go to Heaven. Very few people go to Heaven.When God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, only a few  escaped His judgment. When God sent a flood that covered the earth, most people  drowned. Only a few escaped His judgment. If those are indicators, and I believethat they are, very few will continue to escape His judgment, because the vast majority think they can get to Heaven on the wide road. I  believe that the gate is so narrow that you cannot drive a  moving van through it. I think it is so narrow that you cannot  squeeze through it with a back pack. I think that the gate is  so narrow that you may have to lose everything, leave it all  behind, in order to obtain eternal life. I believe that all  the stuff left behind includes self. You die to self when you  enter the gate. I believe that God gives us a choice as to whether or not we want to be part of the bride of Christ. I do not feel  that Christ wouldforce anyone to be His bride any more than  I would force my wifeto marry me. I wanted her to love me, and Christ wants us to yield to Him  out of love, not because we were forced into it before we were  born.I do not believe that God appointed some to be lost and  some to be saved before the foundation of the world. If that  were so, it would mean that God created a few for salvation and the vast majority of the people to be condemned to Hell  without ever having the opportunity to turn from their sins.  I know my God better than that. I do not believe that all are born saved and must reject Christ in order to be lost. Luke says that Jesus came  "To seek and save the lost". They were lost before He was  born of a virgin, before they ever heard His Holy name,  before they could possibly reject Him or His message. He came to seek and to save them. All they had to do to be lost was remain as they were. I believe that once you go through the narrow gate (be born  again) that you travel the narrow path. I believe that you grow as you  travel. I believe that God, the Holy Spirit comes along side  you to guide you. He will lead you if you allow Him to, but  He is a gentleman,He will not force you to stay on the path. As you walk with God, you will become more like Him. I believe He reveals Himself to others as they are able to  comprehend Him. I believe that if He revealed all of Himself to me at once that I would explode. I believe that as the  Disciples lived and traveled withJesus, they knew Him a little better every day. I believe that the same thing applies to us as we travel and live with Him. I believe  that the path is not only narrow, but that Satan has set traps  along the length of it. I believe that the farther we travel  on the path, the more obviousthe traps become and the less likely we are to be caught in them. I believe that when you reach the end of the path, you are saved. The day you  die is the day you reach the end of the path. In the meantime, I believe you can deny Him and repent, as Peter did, or you can deny Him and be lost, as Judas was. I believe that most temptation comes from love of the things of this world. If we care nothing for the thingsof the world, it is much harder for Satan or his angels to tempt us. I believe that God not only expects obedience; I believe that He demands it. I believe that obedience is a natural result of salvation.I believe that you are saved by faith, but that faith entails much more than intellectual assent that  Jesus is the Christ. I believe that faith is turning your life over to Christ, doing what He says to do, living as He says to live, denying self. I believe that the ones who are saved by faith are the ones who do His will. Talk is cheap. I believe that when the Lord said,"Repent and be baptized",  that he meant for us to repent and be baptized. I do not feel that baptism saves. It follows salvation. Yet I do not believe that those who refuse to be baptized are saved,as they are ignoring  a direct command of God and that is deliberate sin. There was a time when Jesus offered salvation to "whosoever  will", but there was also a time when He stamped the dust  off His feet and moved on. I believe that there is a time when  the Holy Spirit stops striving to win a lost person to Christ, and gives that person overto his or her evil desires, never to  trouble their conscience again. I believe that the Bible says what it means and means what  it says. I believe that if what I read is understandable as read, there is no point in looking for hidden meaning. I know that I am a Gentile and that none of the Mosaic law was written for me. At the same time, I know that the  two laws thatJesus gave as part of the new covenant contain all  the law in the old covenant with the exception of the ceremonial  and sacrificial laws. Put another way, I know that I am not to  lie, or steal, or murder, or hate or covet or commit adultery,  but I am able to eat whatever I choose toeat, or worship where I want to worship. I do not need a priestbecause I am a priest.  I do not need a sacrifice because Jesus was the  perfect sacrifice I believe that I am to obey those in authority over me as  long as they do not demand that I sin. I believe that when I do a jobfor another person, that I must do it as though I am  doing it for my Lord Jesus. I believe that I must turn the other  cheek, go the extra mile,and give the shirt off my back. I believe that I must consider othersto be more important than  I am or my humility is false. I believe thatif a sinner was important enough for Jesus to die for, then that sinner  is important enough for me to love and care for. Those are the things that swirl through my mind. That is what I believe. Terry