Is Jesus a Free Ticket to Heaven? Fire Insurance, or Fellow Heir?
Don't Confuse Mercy with Injustice
In evangelical circles, the Word of God is used to cause a person to realize that a Just God would have to condemn many people because of their lack of "goodness". We're all "good people" by our own self-estimation. Sometimes people will compare themselves to the most wicked of people, just to illustrate how NOT bad they are. "Well, at least I'm not Hitler", they say.
Am I a good person? Well, that would all depend on the universal standard of "good". As we live in an increasingly relative (and perverted) moral society, the idea of "good" has been changing.
Using the standard of just the ten commandments, we can determine that pretty much all of humanity falls short of the "image of God" that we were made in. If anyone claims they "kept all these since my youth" (Luke 18:21) there is still something that is lacking - meaning even if a person keeps the commandments perfectly (which while highly improbable, being made in the image of God, I believe is not impossible) that person can always go further and do more righteously, even then that. There is always more that can be done, and that is a good thing. Imagine if a person claimed to have reached MORAL PERFECTION... even Yeshua Himself, who is morally superior to us, continued his pursuit of pleasing His Father - even to His death.
The Father Wants us to Be Cleansed
There is power in the death, resurrection and ascension of the Son of Man. Yeshua has given us the opportunity (free gift) that our former sins are forgiven and for us to be cleansed from the defilement of this sinful world.
For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Master, the Anointed Yeshua. But he that lacks these things is blind and he cannot see afar off. He has forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 2 Peter 1:8-9
More than being cleansed, He desires us to first follow the commandments with a cheerful heart (go and sin no more), then look for opportunities to please the Father even further. (Be fruitful and multiply).
This is the mercy and the favor that the Almighty God wants to extend to us, if we would only accept it. This is the life that the Most High wants all people to live.
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. Eccl 12:13-14
Does this mean we are condemned for a single slip up? No, I believe that we are commanded to live according to the commandments, and when we make a mistake, we FEAR GOD and repent, returning to the Savior, our advocate, and not sin again. We continue growing and producing. Pruning off the dead branches, causing the fruitful branches to grow.
A Loophole?
When the good news (gospel) was explained to me the first time, it sounded a little too good to be true. I can accept the "Jesus card" and not be accountable for a sinful life? Really? Can that favor EVER be removed? Will He forgive present and even FUTURE sins? Once we are "saved" are we always "saved"? Like permanently? Is Jesus a free ticked to Heaven? Seems like a gaping hole in God's legal system.
Becoming a God Fearer
Imagine trying to make the case before a judge that because your FORMER sins have been forgiven by the judge, that the case against the defendant should be dismissed - even if it's regarding sins made AFTER the former sin debt was forgiven. How would a righteous judge, who already paid a massive price for your debt, would judge in this matter? Wouldn't it be a great INJUSTICE to continue allowing the defendant to trample on the spirit of favor like that? Even if the Judge had UNLIMITED resources to continually pay off debts, why would a righteous judge allow such unrighteousness? When would the judge determine that the debt forgiveness is being taken advantage of? They have rejected the free gift.
Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think one deserves to be punished who has trampled on the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay” Hebrews 10:28-29
The Spirit of Grace
It wasn't until I read the Gospel myself, I began to learn more about how the Favor of the Most High functions - just like we would expect it to function. Righteously and full of mercy and truth.
The Reign of God is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his slaves. As he began the settlements, a debtor was brought to him owing ten thousand talents. Since the man was unable to pay, the master ordered that he be sold to pay his debt, along with his wife and children and everything he owned. Then the slave fell on his knees before him. ‘Have patience with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ His master had compassion on him, forgave his debt, and released him. But when that slave went out, he found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ So his fellow slave fell down and begged him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you back.’ But he refused. Instead, he went and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay his debt. When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and recounted all of this to their master. Then the master summoned him and declared, ‘You wicked slave! I forgave all your debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow slave, just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should repay all that he owed. Matthew 18:23-35
In this parable, we see MERCY. But it doesn't end there, we also see TRUTH... and righteous judgement. We MUST immitate the Mercy, Truth and Righteousness of the King, if we desire to please Him.
We Are Not Expected to Live in Ignorance
We are expected to live life by a righteous standard that was set by our Creator. I belive this righteous standard has been known to various degrees since Adam and Eve, and has been re-introduced (and disregarded) over and over throughout history - including at Mount Sinai. But time and time again, civilization has gone back (in ignorance) to gods of wood and stone and precious metals, thinking these will save them, as if they were divinity, bringing favor and blessings to them when they are shown honor. This is insulting to God. The time of this ignorance has ended.
As we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that divinity is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device - for the times of this ignorance, God winked at. But now He commands all men every where to repent, because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by a Man whom He has ordained; He has given assurance unto everyone, in that He has raised Him from the dead. Acts 17:29-31
The times of ignorance are over - the WORD of God has been spread to the four quadrants of the earth and is in every language. Anybody who rejects the WORD has been either deceived, or is simply unwilling to repent and change their lives, even when the Father has given them the WAY.
The Parable of the Fellow Heir
In contrast of the parable of the wicked slave, I look to a little known parable hidden in the text of "The Shepherd of Hermes". This parable feels like it came straight from the mouth of Messiah. It is encouraging and reminds us of what the Most High expects from people who have been freed from their debt: opportunities to please the Master, not enrage Him!
There was a person who owned a field and many slaves and he planted a vineyard in part of the field. When he was about to go on a journey, he chose a certain slave who was most trustworthy and pleasing to him and called him in and said to him:
‘Take this vineyard that I have planted and build a fence around it before I return, and do nothing else to the vineyard. Do what I have commanded and I will set you free.’
The master of the slave went away on his journey and while he was gone, his slave took the vineyard and built a fence around it. When he finished the fence he saw that the vineyard was full of weeds, and so he reasoned to himself:
‘I have finished what the master commanded; so now I will dig in this vineyard. Once it is dug it will be more attractive, and without the weeds it will give more fruit, since it will not be choked by the weeds.’
So he dug the vineyard and removed all the weeds that were in it and that vineyard became more attractive and flourishing, since there were no weeds that could choke it. After some time the master of both field and slave returned and came into the vineyard. When he saw that the vineyard was attractively fenced and even more that it was dug, with all the weeds removed, and that the vines were flourishing, he was extremely pleased with what the slave had done.
He called his beloved son, who was to be his heir, and his friends, who served as his advisors, and he told them everything he had commanded his slave and everything he found accomplished. And they congratulated the slave for the good testimony that the master had given him. He said to them:
‘I promised to free this slave if he did what I commanded him. And he did what I commanded and an additional good work in my vineyard besides. He has pleased me greatly. In exchange for the work he has done I want to make him a fellow heir with my son; for when he thought of the good deed, he did not leave it alone, but he accomplished it.’
And the master’s son approved of the idea that the slave should become his fellow heir.
Fellow Heirs by our Faith
This is the Mercy, Truth and Righteousness that we seek. A heart that desires to please his Master, like a son who desires to please his father. We do this through obedience, but also through looking for ways to go above and beyond, knowing the GOODNESS of the Father and imitating HIM. I believe this was what God saw in Abraham, that he was looking for ways to please the Most High God, Creator of Heaven and earth.
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, without knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the promised land as a stranger in a foreign country. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. Hebrews 11:8-10
If we are willing to imitate our King, by seeking a way to please the Father, we will also be heirs with the Son of Man - King of kings, Master of masters.
The Spirit testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and heirs with the Anointed — if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him. I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us. Romans 8:16-17
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. Psalm 116:15
MARANATHA! Bless the Most High!
Bless the Most High!
Teach Your Children Liberty from Sin
We encourage parents to teach their children principles of Godliness, beginning with the Word and an understanding who God is and what His Son has done to form a relationship with us.
No one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, his workmanship will be evident, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work. 1 Corinthians 3:11-13
Teach Your children Liberty from Tyranny
Second to this is the principle of self-determination and freedom, lest we loose the ability to teach our children the first principle in future generations. Our children read the Tuttle Twin books, specifically to learn libertarian principles, which most people learn later in life. These books are useful for our family, and yours, to teach children concepts that seem complicated, but are made simple in these books.
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"SMART PEOPLE today are figuring out how to trade without the creature being able to control them - using things like gold and silver products, garden co-ops, online bartering and digital currencies such as Bitcoin."
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This is a hard question... not because the truth is hard
but because it is hard to explain in a form that is linear, with most people believing a huge perversion of what was the Holy Word.
Reincarnation was written out of the Bible, and so, what was left in doesn't make much sense. It seems disjoint.
You cannot make one whole out of all the pieces.
Not without getting some insight from on high.
The thing is, from God's point of view, what we are doing here is playing a huge game. Like an immersive video game.
God still loves all of his children no matter what they do.
However, evil destroys (your life, the world, your soul... everything), good builds more universe.
(and this is one of the best definitions of good, because else you get stuck in a holier than thou loop)
And so, asking for Jesus' forgiveness is an important first step in turning your life around.
Only through that mercy can one still stand after they see all the pain they caused.
I enjoyed reading this, thank you for your thoughtful comment. I especially found this interesting:
Personally, I very much want "one whole of all the pieces". So I ask myself the question: why would God reveal only a certain number of puzzle pieces? Why not just lay it all out there?
I think it's because He only reveals what we need to know for now, until someday after the judgement we will understand everything and then see clearly from God's perspective.
Until then, He wants to find out if we really accept Him as our God, or just play-acting.
You want the truth? You can't handle the truth.
No... really.
Time, to humans, is linear.
But, in reality it is a loop.
But that is a poor descriptor. We don't even have a concept to which to give a name, about what time really is.
Then we have the story of the burning bush.
And many people believe, it was a bush (woody short plant) that was on fire.
Not many consider that it was an angel.
And that this is what a person might see if they actually saw an angel instead of the projection of a person in white with wings.
If someone today had that experience, they might describe it like those mandelbrot pictures with the changing colors.
Further, how do you describe the universe to a group of beings who believe such weird things like "black holes", "dark energy" , "dark matter" & "gravity holds the galaxy together"? You can't just tell them, "everything you know is wrong", it's unhelpful. So, you try to steer them towards a point of insight
If people today had a holy ground burning bush experience, an angel speaking laying everything out there, showing humanity the entirety of truth, the angel would be mocked and rejected, probably crucified. In our wisdom, we would grab our holy science book and educate him on the fundamentals of the universe and it's vastness and the insignificance of man compared to the cosmos.