"The Great Divide"

 "But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God." (Ecclesiastes 8:13 KJV)

  ""I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life. And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it's here now, when the dead will hear my voice - the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live. The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same life-giving power to his Son. And he has given him authority to judge everyone because he is the Son of Man. Don't be surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God's Son, and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment. I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will."" (John 5:24-30 NLT)

 Yesterday I had a conversation with someone about the J.W.'s hold on people that don't know the real Jesus and why faith matters more than doing works. Not to say that works don't matter, because they do, if you are doing them out of love, and not doing them to gain eternal life or salvation. Isaiah 64:6 says, "We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rages. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind." 

 One of the reasons so many people get trapped in cults, is because there are promises of protection given to people for being members and for doing works that benefit the organization. They end up being trapped because they have a sense of security by their works. While, in the case of true Christianity, faith is the thing that matters the most, because without putting our faith in the cleansing power of Christ Jesus, there is no real salvation, we are still lost in our sins. 

 I know it might not seem real to some, only because they haven't put their faith in action; if you are not using the faith that you have been given, then you will not experience the power of the new life in Christ! When you get to a certain point where you don't see any change, you tend to doubt that you have any real salvation. Some will end up looking for something that actually counts on works, membership, or having a person pardon you from your sins. 

 Why I have brought this up, is mostly because there is a great divide in the way people see salvation, on different levels. The one area that stands out the most has to do with those who believe, and those that do not believe; those who want to know God, and those that refuse to know God. 

 Another area are the people who have accepted Christ and believe that He has died for their sins and given them eternal life; and those people who believe in God, but don't see Christ as the true way to be saved. 

 And then we have another area, one that is a little harder to see, and is just as deadly; those who actually believe that they have been saved, but do not fully believe the Bible! Not only that, but there is no real power being manifested in their lives, because doubt so many things in the Bible are either not true, or they are just allegories that show a particular point. 

 You can take it for what it's worth, or you can make it be worth more than you can take...

"Seek the LORD while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them run to the LORD that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously." (Isaiah 55:6-7 NLT)