It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these." (Hebrews 9:23 KJV)
"And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as "foreigners in the land." For you know that God paid a ransom to save you the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to you in these last days." (1 Peter 1:17-20 NLT)
Just so you know, that closing message yesterday was to demonstrate what it looks like for those who are chosen, such as Peter was, that the things we might do that are wrong, such as to deny that we know Christ, (which is not something any of us should do,) will not be the thing that causes us to forfeit the eternal life we have waiting for us in Heaven. I know that there are some who will not agree with what I just said, because of the verse that says, "But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 10:34)
It might not seem right, but John's version of Peter's denial was covered over with that next statement of Jesus saying, "Don't let your hearts be troubled," With all the competition between Peter and John, John wrote his gospel message towards the end of his life here on earth; so there was no more worries over what either one of them might have done, they both died knowing full well that they were totally forgiven!
Interesting enough, Jesus never really was offended in Peter's denial, because He knew perfectly well that Peter would repent, as we see in Luke's Gospel, He says, "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers."
After Jesus said that to Peter, he proclaimed how faithful he was to the Lord; it was after that Jesus told him what he would be repenting about; that he would deny Him three times. And that is what exactly happened! So, what I am trying to say, hopefully without offending those who think differently, is that we have the kind of forgiveness that is foolproof and cannot be taken away!
What I know, and truly believe in my heart, is that there really is no condemnation for those who are in Christ, as long as we believe and ask for forgiveness when we mess up! And even if we are stubborn and don't think we need to be forgiven, God will correct us one way or another, as He will never leave or forsake us!
Those who might not want to ask for forgiveness, may not have ever been really forgiven, not really believing how it all works. But each and every one of us are responsible for our own salvation, as to what we believe and hard we want to keep it; even though it cannot be taken away...
"For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God's one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God's light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants." (John 3:16-21 NLT)
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