Fight like a Christian: 2 Corinthians 10:1-8

Presented to The Salvation Army's Alberni Valley Ministries, Port Alberni, BC, 08 September 2019, by Captain Michael Ramsay

Today’s sermon is entitled ‘Fight like a Christian’ or ‘War like a Christian’. If one is going to speak of such things, it seems appropriate to speak about this at The Salvation Army with soldiers and officers and others associated with the Army present.

The Salvation Army has long recognized that our war is not a battle of flesh and blood but a battle with powers and principalities (Ephesians 6:12) and this is a key thought influencing our passage in 2 Corinthians 10 today. At the Army when we become soldiers, full members of The Salvation Army we sign a covenant with God; keeping with our military theme, do you know what that covenant is called? – The Articles of War: Soldier's Covenant.

Our text in 2 Corinthians 10:2 says that, because we are Christians we do not live by the standards of this world. The word 'world' here refers to 'society’. Our Articles of War talks about a number of ways that our standards – not as Christians but as Salvation Soldiers – are different from those of the world. I have handed out pieces of paper with Salvation Army standards written on them to various people in the corps to read. Everyone who wears epaulets has agreed to these standards:

• I will be responsive to the Holy Spirit’s work and obedient to His leading in my life, growing in grace through worship, prayer, service and the reading of the Bible.
• I will make the values of the Kingdom of God and not the values of the world the standard for my life.
• I will uphold Christian integrity in every area of my life, allowing nothing in thought, word or deed that is unworthy, unclean, untrue, profane, dishonest or immoral.
• I will maintain Christian ideals in all my relationships with others: my family and neighbours, my colleagues and fellow Salvationists, those to whom and for whom I am responsible, and the wider community.
• I will uphold the sanctity of marriage and of family life.
• I will be a faithful steward of my time and gifts, my money and possessions, my body, my mind and my spirit, knowing that I am accountable to God.
• I will abstain from alcoholic drink, tobacco, the non-medical use of addictive drugs, gambling, pornography, the occult, and all else that could enslave the body or spirit.
• I will be faithful to the purposes for which God raised up The Salvation Army, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, endeavouring to win others to Him, and in His name caring for the needy and the disadvantaged.
• I will be actively involved, as I am able, in the life, work, worship and witness of the corps, giving as large a proportion of my income as possible to support its ministries and the worldwide work of the Army.
• I will be true to the principles and practices of The Salvation Army, loyal to its leaders, and I will show the spirit of Salvationism whether in times of popularity or persecution.

The items on this list are all very good things but I need to be clear: these items that people just read out aren’t conditions of salvation and they aren’t even things that necessarily every Christian will do – though some of them are, like “sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, endeavouring to win others to Him, and in His name caring for the needy and the disadvantaged” and “making the values of the Kingdom of God and not the values of the world the standard for my life” But they are things that demarcate those of us who are soldiers from others.

Back to 2 Corinthians 10 where the Apostle Paul is speaking about what makes Christian Soldiers different from other soldiers. The Apostle Paul says, as recorded in Verse 4, that as followers of Christ we do not fight with the weapons of this world. We do not fight according to human standards. In the Greek it says though we live in the flesh, we do not fight in the flesh.[1] As Christians, we do not fight the way the armies of this world fight.

In Paul's day Rome was far and away the regional super power; Might was right. They won a lot of wars through their military might. As that was the case with Rome around the Mediterranean basin in the first century, it is exponentially more so these days with the USA. The US militarily is currently occupying about 150 countries in the world according to CNN.[2]  To put that into perspective: there are just over 190 countries in the United Nations. That means that the US occupies about 80% of the countries in our world today. Their military is regularly engaged in wars and other military actions around the globe. With military might in the 1^st century and the 21^st century wars were and are commonly fought.

In the both world of the 1^st and 21^st centuries an invader usually first lay siege to a place it was about to attack, to soften it up. In today's world we usually refer to that action as placing ‘economic sanctions’ on a country. The idea is to make life so bad for the country with people starving to death or suffering other terrible results that some people will rebel against their own people just to survive. In the ancient world sometimes powerful countries would prevent less powerful countries from having advanced weapons. The Philistines – long before the Romans, as recorded in our Bible - are noted as not letting the Israelites having iron weapons (1 Samuel 13) so that the Philistines could invade them at will and Israel could not resist. In our world today we know that the US claims a right to decide who can and cannot be a nuclear power and we remember that before the US invaded Iraq they sent in weapons inspectors to make sure that Iraq could not fight back. Both in the 21^st and the 1^st Centuries, the next step in war, after sieges and the sanctions, is for countries to wage war from a distance. In ancient times they would use catapults and arrows,  in later times canon (the British were experts in using the canon on their ships), and now powerful countries use aeroplanes so that they can kill as many people (combatants and civilians alike) with little risk to their armed forces. And then after all that, if we still need to, we send in the troops. That is how wars were and are fought.

The Bible says that, as Christians, we fight differently to affect change. Again our battle is not against flesh and blood. We Christians aren’t fighting against other people. Our goal isn’t to kill someone; quite the opposite. The enemy has trapped some people and it is our goal to set them free. In Christian vernacular, we want them to be ‘saved’. The enemy has trapped many people in many different cages. Some people are trapped in addiction, some people are trapped by hate, some people (I read more and more it about everyday) are trapped by strange sexuality – pornography, congruent or serial adultery, grooming; abuse, poverty; some people are trapped by deception; some people are trapped by selfishness. Many people in our day and age are trapped in rage and unforgiveness. The Bible says, Galatians 5:19-21 that some people are trapped by sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. There are many thoughts like these that can take people captive.

Our text today, 2 Corinthians 10:5, encourages us that we can stand up to all of these siege engines, platforms, and obstacles that are raised against the knowledge of God and we can take every one of these thoughts captive.[3] This is important. When people do all of these ‘bad things’ we listed and more, we need to remember that they are not the originators of these events so much as the victims of these thoughts. As we serve in God’s Army we help people who are imprisoned by the devil to NOT be crushed. We fight instead to see people freed from the power of darkness. And once we are freed from all of that bad stuff: addiction, jealousy, rage, etc., those thoughts themselves can then become the punished captives. The people can be free. Verse 8 says we are to build each other up. This is important.

Our war here, our daily battles and struggles aren’t against people who disagree with us or even people who torment us or make our life miserable. Our war is with the thoughts and the actions that the devil, the principalities and powers are using to enslave the people.[4] Our goal isn’t to hate and destroy people but to love and liberate them. And as such our weapons aren’t guns, canons, aeroplanes, and nuclear weapons; they aren’t lies, slander, and hate; our weapons are – and this is neat because the word for weapons in our text today ‘hopla’ is the same word translated ‘amour’ in the famous Ephesians 6 passage about the amour of God.[5] Our amour, our weapons for taking each thought captive and freeing ourselves and others are as Paul encourages us in Ephesians 6:14-17, to:

Stand firm with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

And as we stand strong holding the weapons of God, wearing the amour of God, Jesus will defeat the enemy; indeed he has defeated the enemy and Galatians 5 tells us what our lives can be like as the enemy’s thoughts are taken prisoner and we are freed from captivity. Galatians 5:22-23 says we can live in the power of the Spirit and “…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, perseverance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” This is all ours to experience.

This, my friends, is what we are fighting for. As we accept Jesus Christ as our General, our President, our Lord, and our King; we can not only experience all the freedom of love, joy, peace, perseverance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in our own lives but also - as we fight to share the Gospel with others - we can help free them from the thoughts that keep them trapped and we can point others to Jesus who can give them that very same freedom not only here and now but also forever, even unto eternal life. God loves you and he wants you to receive that liberation today.

If you are still struggling as a captive to thoughts of hate, envy, and bitterness; actions of addiction, rage, and giving up, and more; I would invite you today - if you haven't already - to give your life to the Lord Jesus and then I invite us all to ask the Lord Jesus to free us from these thoughts today so that indeed we can all experience that freedom in Christ Jesus.

Let us pray.

Benediction from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, 23-24: Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it...

  

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[1] Simon J. Kistemaker, 2 Corinthians, NTC (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic: 2007), 334 and J. Paul Sampley, The Second Letter to the Corinthians (NIB X: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 2000), 136.

[2] CNN: U.S. military personnel by country (April 2012) https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2012/04/us/table.military.troops/

[3] Cf. Simon J. Kistemaker, 2 Corinthians, NTC (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic: 2007), 336 about the allusion to siege engines here.

[4] Cf. Murray J. Harris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:2 Corinthians/Exposition of 2 Corinthians/III. Paul's Vindication of His Apostolic Authority (2 Cor 10:1-13:13)/A. The Exercise of Apostolic Rights and Authority (10:1-11:15)/1. The potency of apostolic authority (10:1-11), Book Version: 4.0.2

[5] J. Paul Sampley, The Second Letter to the Corinthians (NIB X: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 2000), 138.

2 Corinthians 5:6-10: Home and Away Series 2019

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries 25 August 2019 based on the version presented to the Nipawin and Tisdale Corps 19 October 2008 by Captain Michael Ramsay

Read the original here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/10/2-corinthians-56-10-home-and-away.html

Today's message is entitled ‘Home and Away Series’. One of the joys of when we were living in Toronto was going to see the Blue Jays play. I wasn't ever really a baseball fan before we lived there but going to a Blue Jays game was a lot of fun and it wasn't nearly as expensive as watching the Maple Leafs (and when we were there they had a much better chance of winning!) so I would try to catch a game or two a year.

Going to sports games can be a lot of fun. The girls and I try to catch a few Bulldogs when we can. Many years ago I worked with international colleges that would bring students to Canada from all over the world to study. When I was working for one college (CPCI), I can remember the excitement of taking a number of our Japanese students to a couple of box lacrosse play-off games - for the final series.

I can remember that at first I didn’t really realize what a big deal the final series was – I thought that I could just get someone to swing by and get tickets for the final home and away series so I asked Susan to just go down and pick us up some tickets on her way to wherever she was going. Well there must have been five to six thousand people lined up (at least!) to try and get one of the remaining tickets. This was in the old days long before you could just buy tickets and other things on-line; so Susan crowded in the line-up for hours as the line moved slowly forward until, I think, she had to go to her job or something. Then I traded off and went down to the arena myself.

Shortly afterwards my cell phone rang. It was Susan; she just heard on the radio that you could buy the tickets over the phone now and praise the Lord this was in the days before everyone had cell phones - they were still pretty rare - and big (I carried mine on my belt like an old west gunslinger or something). But with this new information, now not only was I waiting in line but I was calling from my phone and I had my whole staff at the office and Susan trying to get through on the phone, all the time I was moving closer and closer to those last remaining tickets with less and less of them available all the time. It got down to there being very few tickets left and I wasn’t even near enough the ticket booth to see it yet when my phone rang – it was Susan, we got the tickets! I cheered as I took the victory tour, and embarked on the challenge of moving through the crowd like a Salmon swimming upstream.

This victory of just getting the tickets was almost as exciting as when our guys won the cup. Play-offs: They are exciting when you hear your team win on the radio when they are away. They are exciting to see your team win on TV but there is nothing like seeing the victory of the home team live or in my case even the victory of being able to get the tickets to watch the home team play live. Our text today is talking about that a little bit too. 1 Corinthians 5:6-10:

Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Paul is talking about a home and away series of sorts (cf. Eph. 218-20; Phil 3:20). He says that though we are in the body right now and playing an away game as it were (because we are away from the Lord), the final will be a home game (cf. 1 Thess. 4:17; Phil 1:23). In the end we will be playing before the Lord. Paul is saying very much that it is like a championship series and right now we are playing in an away game. And in this away game of our life, we may be dying but the home game is coming. The home game is to be seen in heaven and that is when our performance will be judged and we’ll receive whatever is due us (2 Cor. 5:10).

Look at verse 10. Paul is writing to Christians and he says that we all must appear before that judgement seat at the next game when the trophy is to be awarded. We don’t get a bypass on judgement just because we are Christians (cf. 1Cor 3:10-15 and Rom 14:10-12). Just because we are on Christ’s team doesn’t mean we get to sit out the rest of this game on the bench either. We can’t stop playing if we want to get that trophy, even if it seems like we might be losing, even if it seems that we aren’t playing our best, even if all the fans seem to be cheering against us. Even if we are a little injured, we have to keep playing and sometimes it’s difficult.

Sometimes our opponent seems to be winning. Sometimes it seems that no matter what we do, sometimes, to use a baseball analogy, sometimes it seems every time we swing, we miss. Sometimes it seems that we just strike out. Sometimes it seems that events or the devil get the upper hand.

The devil is pitching for the other team. Sometimes he throws curve balls. He even threw some at Jesus during the away game. We know that Jesus suffered the temptations known to man and that Jesus prevailed (Cf. Mt. 4, Mk 1, Lk. 4, 1 Cor. 10:12-14, Js 1:1-3) but do you remember the story of the devil’s attempt to tempt Jesus in the desert (Mt. 4, Mk 1, Lk. 4)? As part of this, the devil says to Jesus, Luke 4:5-6, I will give you all of the power, all countries (kingdoms) in the world. I will give you all this authority, he says, “it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I please. If you then worship me it will be yours.” The devil says all of this as he is trying to knock Jesus out of the away game. The devil doesn’t want Jesus to play in the game. He doesn’t want Him to make it home. He is trying to throw Him off or maybe – for an even better analogy - he is even trying to offer Him a buy-out or an early retirement package or trying to acquire Him for his own team in a free agency deal of sorts.

Satan offers Jesus everything and it seems to be a pretty good offer because in a sense the devil is right. He has been given authority on earth (Jn 12:30-32, 14:29-31, 16:11)– you don’t have to look so far with all the wars, violence, and starving people around (even though God has given us more than enough to solve all of these problems), You don’t have to look too far to see the trouble that we people are causing here because, as the scriptures say, the devil is the ‘prince of this age,’” (Jn 12:30-32, 14:29-31, 16:11) and because we fall victim to his pitches.

The devil tried to knock Jesus out of the away game with temptations; are there times when even though we know Jesus has already won the series between the cross and the empty tomb, are there ways that we can be knocked off our game with a temptation not to play anymore? Are there are times when, even though we know Jesus has already won the series, we just don’t want to get in and play anymore? Are there times when we are tempted to take the devil’s early retirement package rather than to stay and play the final game?

What are some of the pitches that he throws that might make us want to retire in this, the away game? Do you ever just get tired? Do you ever wonder why should I be so good? Why should I behave? Why should I be honest if everyone else is cheating? Why should I read the Word? Why should I go to church? Why should I have to do everything that I do? – Even, why should I even bother getting up in the morning… because nothing changes anyway? The devil throws some tough pitches.

Here, in Port Alberni, I have walked with people in real crises. I have spoken to people who the doctors are trying to convince to kill themselves; I have spoken to people whose marriages are strained and are in need of strengthening; I have spoken to people whose loved ones may be not long for this world; I have spoken to friends who - themselves or their loved ones - are fighting desperately to get free of the clutches of addiction.

Do you ever feel like giving up? Do you ever feel like giving in? The temptation to not read your Bible; the temptation to not pray; the temptation to hide; the temptation not to get up in the morning, the temptation not to bother, the temptation to turn to self-indulgences or give in to addictions and fear…the temptation to just give up! These are all pitches that the devil throws our way in the away game and it gets stressful and the thing about this away game is that at times – it feels as if we are all alone – it feels as if no one is on our side – it can be almost like everyone is cheering against us.

We need to persevere though - There is good news and that good news is that the final game is coming. Those of us that keep playing, those of us that keep pressing on towards the goal (Phil 3:14; 1 Cor. 9:24; Cf. Col 2:18); those of us who don’t give up; those of us who – like it says in verse nine – those of us who make it our goal to play for Jesus (who is both our coach and our star player, btw); those of us who make it our aim to play for Christ who has already won the victory; we are going to play in the home game when the trophy is awarded. We are going to stand before the judge. We are going to be given the prize for playing on the winning team – provided we keep playing – provided we don’t give up – provided we don’t take the devil’s trade or early retirement package, as good as it may seem. If we stay with Christ we will claim the victory.

Jesus has already won the series. Remember that. Remember that even though Satan is the ‘prince of this age’ as it says in John, and even though he does have some power given to him from above and even though his offers are real, and even though they can sound pretty good - remember that he is just the prince of this age, He is not the king of the age to come.

God is. Jesus is. Therefore, we should remember that when the devil throws these pitches, as Jesus states in Luke 4:8, we should respond and ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only’. Satan, with as much power as he seems to have on this continent and in this world, Satan is just like a bad manager while the boss is away. And you know what happens to a bad manager when the boss comes back? He gets fired and Jesus is coming back and when he does the devil and his angels, will be fired (so to speak...)

The truth is that Jesus has actually already won the victory. Even though the away game may still be a tough haul, the game has actually been won already and we are actually just returning home for the victory parade. Jesus has already won the victory so we should not give up. The clock is ticking down; this away game is almost over and the series has been won already. Don’t give in to temptation to quit. Stay the course. Like it says in Verse 9, “whether we are home or away we make it our aim to please Him.” This should be our aim.

So when the devil tosses you balls of self-doubt, when the devil tosses you balls of blame and temptation, hit them out of the park. Remember that Christ has already won the victory. We are just waiting for the cup to be awarded. When you are tempted to give up, when we are tempted to sin. Stand firm, Remember that the prize has been won and it is waiting for us. So let’s have a strong finish to our game.

In this away game of our lives, we don’t need to give in to sin. We can accept God’s offer to be holy (1 Pt 1:15, Lv 11:44,45; 19:2; 20:7). We can accept God’s offer to be perfect (2 Cor. 13; Col. 1:28; Hb 11,12;) not by ourselves but with the Lord’s help. He will do it (1 Thess 5:23-24). He has won the victory. The Spirit will let us endure any temptation as we stand firm we will indeed enjoy the victory!

Let us pray: This prayer for us from 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, ‘May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you (us) through and through. May your (our) whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.’

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1 John 5:9-13: Dandilions

Presented to the Alberni Valley Men's Breakfast, 14 August 2019 by Captain Michael Ramsay
 
 We have recently moved back to Vancouver Island. We have just moved into a new place. I had forgotten how well dandelions grow on the Island. Those little yellow flowers are everywhere. I think we have more yellow flowers in the yard than green blades of grass. These flowers reproduce quite easily and effectively. Even if you pluck one out it goes to seed and effectively casts those seeds to the wind causing more and more of these little yellow flowers to grow.

This is really the same with our testimonies. Honestly truly if we are happy that we have Christ in our life and that we spend our life with Christ, as we share that information more and more people will realize how great it is to be with Christ in good times and tough times. As we experience and share our testimony about the comfort and joy of the Lord. we have the opportunity to see maybe even as many people come to share in that joy with us as dandelions that come from a single flower who shares its seed.

May we all be as effective at sharing as dandelions.

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The Good News of Salvation in Haiku (2 John 6-9, Philippians 2:12&13, 2 Corinthians 6:1-9, 1 Thessalonians 5: 23-24)

Presented to Alberni Valley Ministries, 11 August 2019 by Captain Michael Ramsay and Ryder Reynolds

Today we will look at a number of haikus about Salvation.

The Sprinkler

Refreshing and cool

This hot day the Sprinkler calls

Salvation is here

Salvation is like a sprinkler on a hot day. The warmer the day gets the more we realize the joys of the sprinkler. God provides the Sprinkler of Salvation. He made the Sprinkler (through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus); we did not make it. The sanctified water shoots from the Sprinkler of Salvation that God has provided. You and I are invited to come towards that Sprinkler of Salvation. As we respond to that call we become more and more drenched by the water of Jesus’ love which sprays from the Sprinkler of Salvation. The day remains hot and the hotter it gets the more the Sprinkler beckons (in this analogy, the day does not cool in our lifetime). At times many of us wander to and from that Sprinkler and thus experience more or less the joy of the Sprinkler of Salvation that is available to us all. It is my hope, and indeed the Lord’s desire that none of us should suffer outside of the relief of the Sprinkler of Salvation now and forever.[1]

The Parcel

The perfect present

Is everything you’ve wanted

Salvation is here

Salvation is like a parcel delivered to you on your birthday or other such occasion. In this parcel is something that you have always needed. It was ordered for you at great expense by someone who loves you (Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour). It is yours. As you open it your whole life will change. Joy will fill your heart. If you never open it you will never experience it; if you put it away and stop using it you will no longer experience its joy. Your friend who loves you not only offers it to you, they have already given it to you. It is wrapped and sitting in your hands today. All you need to do is open it.

Abandoned House

Joy beyond belief

Abandoned, left desolate

Sad apostasy

Apostasy is an abandoned house. Once it was beautiful. Once it was loved. Once it was lived in. Once it was alive with love and with life. People were raised here, memories were formed but now the people have left. The love has left. The life has left. It is only a shell and that shell is crumbling more and more each day until someday it may come down.[2] 2 John 2:8, Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.

Restored House

Joy, lost and now found

Twice as sweet as it once was

Forgiveness is love

When an abandoned house is repaired brick by brick or plank by plank, the house begins to come to life. As the repaired house is repainted it becomes inviting. As the invitation is accepted, love, life, family, friends and joy return. This is forgiveness. This is Salvation. As we forgive others, our healing becomes like a renovated house, as we accept the Lord’s love and forgiveness, His Spirit dwells in us.

   

 The Book

The book is a jacket

Until it is read and then

It’s an adventure

My family loves reading: my kids, my wife, myself. We all enjoy our books. I think every wall in our house that can have a bookshelf against it, probably does. We have everything from children’s books, to cook books, to music magazines, to theological treaties, to historical documents, and much more. Between us we buy a lot of books. Susan gets a lot of books from Amazon. Every once and a while, I find a classic at the Thrift Store or a used book store for next to nothing. Sometimes I find two or three books at a time. I can only read so many books at once so if I find that when  I have purchased or received more than that at a time, I can put them on a shelf or somewhere else and never read them. The whole time they sit on the shelf they are nothing more than a piece of artwork, a title. It is only when I pick them up and read them that I learn and discover and live what the author wrote for me to experience.

Salvation is the same way. When we open the cover of our relationship with God through prayer and turn the pages of Salvation through Bible study and read the words through listening to and obeying Christ we are filled with all the joy and strength of the book but until then our Salvation is no more experienced than an unread book in a jacket upon a shelf.[3]

  

Marriage

Not just a wedding

and big party, but a life

A real marriage

Salvation is not just saying some words. Salvation is not just uttering a prayer. Salvation is not just getting baptized or taking communion. Salvation is a life that one spends with the Lord for Eternity.

It is like the difference between a wedding and a marriage. A wedding is an event. If the last time that you saw your spouse was on the day you said, ‘I do’ than you may be wed but you certainly never experienced the joys of life with your spouse: you do not have a marriage. But when you and your partner grow together through all of life’s struggles, trials, and celebrations; you become more like your spouse and even know their thoughts.

This is like Salvation, our life with the Lord. The more time we spend with Him the more we experience Him in our life, the more we turn to and rely on him, the more we love Him, the more we experience our salvation.

  

A Walk with a Friend

A walk with a friend

This is true Salvation

A means not an end

Salvation is not merely a state to be obtained. It is a relationship. When we are in relationship with our Lord we experience the joy of Salvation. When one is not in relationship with our Lord one does not experience all the the joys of Salvation. As we continue to walk with the Lord we continue to experience Salvation through all the joys, trials, tribulations, and exhilaration of life.[4]

True Salvation is not merely a heaven that you walk to with your Lord and Saviour. True Salvation is the heaven that you experience while walking with Jesus, Our Lord and Saviour both now and forever.

   

The Good News of Salvation: Doctrines 9 &10

It can continue

The Good News of Salvation

As we walk with God

All of these analogies are true and more. Jesus gives us many metaphors of Salvation in the Gospels. There are some key things that we should probably know and realize in our lives:

1)      Salvation is not merely a final destination; it is a relationship, a journey with our Lord and Saviour. Salvation is us living with and serving our Lord, starting now and with the option to continue forever.

2)      Salvation, Christianity and Holiness are not distinct from each other. They are based on the same word - Hagios; they are one in the same. If you are saved, you are a Christian (Saint), and if you are a Christian (Saint) you are holy. The Bible is very clear that as we spend more time with God, the Holy Spirit makes us more like Him. God changes us; the world doesn't necessarily change, we do.

3)      When we are experiencing the Lord's salvation in our life it does not mean that we will have the perfect life in the sense that nothing troubling will ever happen again. Until Jesus returns, bad things will still happen; sad things will still happen; mad things will still happen; as will perplexing and vexing things. What our Salvation means in the here and now is that in the midst of real life we can experience the peace of Christ and the Joy of the Lord in all our circumstances. And as we do we can be employed by Him to offer the same peace, love, and comfort to all we meet in Jesus' Name. So, let us do just that and…

Let us pray…

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SELECTED RELEVANT SCRIPTURES

2 John 6-9 (NIV):

And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. 7 I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. 9 Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

Philippians 2:12&13 (NIV):

12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

Proverbs 10:16 (NIV):

The wages of the righteous is life, but the earnings of the wicked are sin and death.

Romans 6:22-23 (NIV):

22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord

2 Corinthians 6:1-9 (NIV):

As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. 2 For he says, “In the time of my favour I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.

3 We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. 4 Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; 5 in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; 6 in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; 7 in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; 8 through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; 9 known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; 10 sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

1 Thessalonians 5: 23-24 (NIV):

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

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[1]Cf. The General of the Salvation Army. Salvation Story: A Handbook of Salvationist Doctrine. (London, England: The Salvation Army International Headquarters, 1998), 73: "...our God-given free will is itself flawed by sin. It cannot operate in true freedom without the grace of God.”

[2] Cf. Samuel Logan Brengle, Heart Talks on Holiness (Atlanta, Georgia: The Salvation Army Supply and Purchasing Department, 1988), 97, 109: “it was for [holiness] we were born and to fall short of this will be infinite, eternal loss, and doom us to an everlasting night of shame and contempt.” “Our walk with Him must be constant…or else we will seek for Him some day and not find Him.”

[3] Cf. Cf. Richard B. Hays, Galatians, in NIB, Vol. 11, ed. Leander E. Keck, et. al. (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2000), 328.And James Montgomery Boice, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM: Galatians/Exposition of Galatians/III. The Call to Godly Living (5:1-6:10)/C. Life in the Spirit (5:13-26)/1. Liberty is not license (5:13-18), Book Version: 4.0.2

[4] Cf. The General of the Salvation Army. Salvation Story: A Handbook of Salvationist Doctrine. (London, England: The Salvation Army International Headquarters, 1998),85-86: Salvation is neither a state to be preserved nor an insurance policy which requires no further investment. It is the beginning of a pilgrimage with Christ.