Essays discussing evangelism and salvation as well as comparing Christian Soteriology to other religions.
An overview of what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is. The Gospel is good news about how God wants to save us from our destruction, yet over the years, humans have twisted the Gospel to the point that they have threatened people with it. Good news can never be a threat. This article is written the purpose of explaining what the gospel is, why it is good news, and why it is needed.
Continue readingEternal life is promised to those who believe, but what happens if they stop believing? What about someone who believes but struggles with sin? Is there a difference?
Continue readingWhen studying investing and the Bible simultaneously, some interesting metaphors for salvation came to mind. God’s order of salvation can be compared to a Cosmic Corporate Bond or a Heavenly ESO.
Many religions offer a promise of salvation from life’s challenges. Most beliefs teach that we must work for freedom. While others provide no hope of release from suffering for humanity, they simply accept life as it is. Various methods of salvation involve natural works to accumulate good karma or merit points with God. It’s like climbing a mountain to reach God or deliverance from life’s struggles. Still, while climbing, the climber faces an eruption, an avalanche, a thunderstorm, and mountain lions, making it humanly impossible. In contrast, in Christianity, Jesus (the Messiah) ascends the metaphorical mountain himself for us. He walks through fire and magma unburned (Dan 3:1-30), parts the wall of snow and ice (Ex 14:15-31, Josh 3:9-17), even walks on rushing water (Mark 6:45-56), quiets the storm (Mark 4:35-41), and shuts the lion’s mouth (Dan 6:1-28). He reaches the top for us and moves the mountain (Mark 11:22-24) by mediating a New Covenant relationship with God where his sacrifice covers our sin (failures to keep God’s law), so we are saved from sin’s eternal consequences. In other words, we can’t save ourselves, so we must trust God for it.
Continue readingWhy does God give us a choice in the first place? Doesn’t he want absolute obedience? If he wished for absolute obedience, then he would have made us robots, pre-programmed to say ‘I love you’. The Bible often compares God’s covenant relationship to human ones, such as a parent to a child (Creator to creation) and a husband to a wife (God to His people). Most people can understand the view of God as a Father, but seeing God as a husband seems strange to some. What is the difference between the two kinds of relationships?
Continue readingIn John 3:1-15, Jesus tells Nicodemus that one must be born again to enter the Kingdom. Nicodemus’s response was asking how he would go back into his mother’s womb and be born again. He is not dense; he knows this is a metaphor, but he responds to its application. Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a well-trained religious leader, knew that Jesus didn’t mean being born again literally. He would have been familiar with Ezekiel 36:26-27, which prophesies the coming of the Holy Spirit to transform people’s hearts. That is the spiritual rebirth process itself, and the only people who receive the Holy Spirit are those who receive it from Jesus by believing in Him (John 14:15-17, Romans 8:5-11). This is why, in John 3:16-21, Jesus says that only those who believe in Him receive eternal life, while others receive condemnation. Eternal Life is only given to those whom the Holy Spirit transforms.
Continue readingThere are Christians who don’t believe that Jesus died in our place because of God’s punishment. That means they don’t believe in Penal Substitution Atonement. Penal Substitution Atonement is the belief that all people deserve the death penalty for their sins (breaking God’s law). However, Jesus died as a substitute for our punishment, atoning (or paying) for the penalty of our sins and reconciling us with God. They have some other understanding of why Jesus had to die on the cross because it sounds abusive for God to punish an innocent man for the many. They instead say the blood itself cleanses us of sin, rather than saying Jesus died because he took God’s wrath in our place. We must not distort what scripture teaches; there is no reason to reject PSA biblically. The blood was shed because his death is a substitute for ours. After all, we deserve it for our sins, and in exchange for his death, we can receive eternal life.
Continue readingDid Jesus teach that there were multiple ways to receive eternal life? No, Jesus did not teach universal salvation; he makes it very clear that to get God’s gift of salvation from slavery to sin, and punishment for our sins, and receive eternal life as a by-product, we must go through him since he is the king of heaven and earth. He is the only one who provides the power to overcome sin. In John 14:6, Jesus says that he was “the way, the truth, and the light” and that “no one goes to the Father except through him”. In John 10:1-16, Jesus said that he was the “sheep gate,” meaning that all of God’s people (referred to as “sheep”) come to the pasture through him, since he guards them as their shepherd. Acts 4:12 says, “God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
Continue readingIf a gun is put to your head and you are threatened to convert to another religion, and you lie out of fear. By swearing allegiance to that religion, do you genuinely believe in their theology, or are you just saying that to keep from being martyred? Can you choose TRULY to accept a new theology/religion under pressure, or can you only fake it?
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