BLESSED IS THE NAME OF THE LORD!!!!!!
The transformation to Christianity is not as complicated as some would have you believe. The early church was not a building, but instead it was and still is the people. The body of Christ is the people. We are the body and building of the church. The early church gathered in homes and worshipped, praised, learned of the Lord and salvation.
Some of today’s churches have twisted the teachings, added man’s tradition and doctrine. When this is taught from generation to generation, it is less the Lords word and more that of man. So, let’s get back to the truth as it was taught by the Disciples and Apostles. Let the true word of God be taught without hesitation or opinion.
First we will address salvation, being forgiven and saved. Only Jesus can save anyone, not good deeds, nor any preacher or priest. They have no ability to save. If that were the case, we would not need Christ to come and die for us. There is no other way to be saved except through belief in Jesus Christ our Lord. ACTS 4:12 states, Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
John 3:1 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born [a]again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God
As we see, Jesus is saying that to get to heaven we must be born again. We must be a new person born of the spirit. What exactly is this supposed to mean? We confess our sins, we come to Christ and are saved, then the Holy Spirit indwells us and we become a new different person. We are now born of the spirit and not of flesh. We have become Holy, and are not to live the old life. Not a life based on fleshly desires but a life according to God’s word and will. We seek the Lord daily, we ask for His guidance in all we do and say. We desire act Christ like instead of how we once lived. This includes having the same love for others as the Lord has for us. I’ll admit there was a time I thought this as impossible, but after I prayed daily and deliberately tried, it became easy. The Lord will help anyone to become Christ like as this is His will for us.
The second question is how do we become saved? There is no need to attend church to be saved, nor to be baptized as some think. These are paths that are misspoken a lot. For instance, the thief on the cross next to Jesus had no time to visit a church or be baptized, He was saved by coming to Christ and asking. Jesus save him on the cross.
22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.
As you can see, we are told that all we have to do is ask. For the Lord says,” ask and you will receive”.
We ask in faith, believing the Lord will do as He has promised.
So come to the Lord in reverence, placing your hope and trust in Him. Accept Jesus as your savior and receive redemption.
ACTS 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
This is the way to peace, and salvation, as provided by God Himself. We are to attend church to worship the Lord with other believers. This helps with edifying one another. This provides each of us with fellowship with others as we can help each other on our path. So let us worship together, carry each other’s burdens and be the people God intended us to be. Let the Christian life be alive and shown. As we live this life we are silently showing others who we are. We are demonstrating the Christian life. Not one of judging, but of love and forgiveness as Jesus did. We can walk in His light, not in the darkness of evil but in His light of love.
We should all welcome anyone to worship with us. Our church building and congregation should always welcome all who come. After all, we are all sinners. There is no difference between a murderer and a liar, nor between a thief and a gossip. Those are all sins to God. God forgives us all the same way, through Jesus His Son. As the Lord has welcomed us, we will always welcome anyone who wishes to worship and learn of God
AMEN.