Written by Luke, we can view this as a sort of Luke Part 2 in a way. The gospel of Luke tells the life an ministry of Jesus while Acts tells us about the gift of the Holy Spirit and the birth and propagation of the church.
Instead of opening with an adrenaline rush like most action movies today, the book of Acts opens slowly telling us about how Jesus appeared to the first believers over a period of 40 days.
After His suffering, He presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. Acts 1:3 NIV
Knowing the heart of man, Jesus knew the disciples would doubt His resurrection. So over a period of 40 days, Jesus gave the early followers "many convincing proofs" that He was alive. They must have believed that He had risen from the dead because I am sitting here today writing this blog. These men and women were willing to go to their deaths for the cause of Christ...and it all started with the 40 days He spent with them after His resurrection.
Today, many doubt the truth of the Bible or the importance of the church. Do you think it would make a difference if Jesus came and spent 40 days with them? If He ate with them, lived with them, and taught them the truth about themselves?
What about you? Do you have doubts about Jesus? About the Bible? about everything?
Don't let that shake your faith because even the first followers had doubts...but they didn't have the Bible or the Holy Spirit...which we all have today.
How much time do we spend in Bible study and prayer each day? What would happen in your life if you committed to spending 40 days reading the Bible and praying every morning?
Let's find out!! I will be unveiling our "40 Days to Defeat Doubt" Plan this coming Sunday!!
Prayer emphasis: Ask God to revral Himself to you today in His wor and through the power of the Holy Spirit!! Ask Him to truly help you believe!!!
I WANT TO BE SAVED LIKE THE THIEF ON THE CROSS! BY STEVE FINNELL
ReplyDeleteThose who choose to reject water baptism as being essential for salvation all want to point to the thief on the cross as their hope of dry cleaning away their sins.
Did you ever notice these same people do not want to be saved without confessing Jesus as Lord and believing in the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the grave? Why not?
Romans 10:9-10 that if if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
The thief on the cross was saved without believing God raised Jesus from the grave. Does that mean men today can fail to believe in the resurrection of Jesus and still be saved? Of course not. They also cannot be saved without being baptized in water.
Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.
Enoch went to be with God . Enoch did not believe Jesus was the Christ. Enoch did not confess Jesus as Lord. Enoch did not believe in the resurrection of Jesus. Can men today be saved like Enoch? Of course not, nor can they be saved like the thief on the cross.
2 Kings 2:1-11And it came about when the Lord was about to take up Elijah by a whirlwind to heaven......11 As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven.
Elijah failed to confess Jesus as Lord, and he did not believe that God had resurrected Jesus from the grave. Did he go to heaven? Yes. Can contemporary men be saved like Elijah? Of course not. There is not a whirlwind plan of salvation available under the new covenant, nor is there a water-less salvation available like the thief experienced.
Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became ah heir of righteousness which is according to faith.
Noah did not confess Jesus as the Christ. Noah did not believe in the resurrection of Jesus. He did not accept Jesus as Lord. Did Noah become an heir of righteousness? Did his household receive salvation? Yes. Can men today be saved like Noah? Of course they cannot, nor can they be saved like the thief on the cross. There is not a Noah nor is there a thief plan of salvation available under the new covenant.
Matthew 9:2 And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, :Take courage your sins are forgiven."
The paralytic's sins were forgiven because of the faith of friends. He did not confess Jesus as Lord. He did not believe in his heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. Was the paralytic's sins forgiven? Yes. Can the men of the twenty-first century have their sins forgiven because of faith of friends? Of course they cannot. There is no provision under the new covenant to be save by the faith of friends. There is also no provision under the new covenant to be saved like the thief on the cross.
Was the thief on the cross saved? Did Enoch go to be with God? Did Elijah go to heaven? Was Noah and his household saved? Was the paralytic's sins forgiven? The answer is YES YES YES YES YES.
Can men today be saved without confessing Jesus as Lord? Is salvation possible without believing that God raised Jesus from the dead? Are sins forgiven absent water baptism? Can men be saved without repentance? The answer is NO NO NO NO!
WANTING TO BE SAVED LIKE THE THIEF ON THE CROSS DOES NOT MAKE IT A REALITY!
THE THIEF WAS NOT SAVED UNDER THE NEW COVENANT!
YOU ARE INVITED TO FOLLOW MY BLOG. http//:steve-finnell.blogspot.com