The Bible interprets itself. It says that salt is a sign of the Covenant; God isn’t particularly interested in preserving human cultures, his mission is to spread his culture–the Kingdom of Heaven. Followers of Jesus are to be a sign to the world of the Kingdom of Heaven—and how to get there (John 8:31,32)
Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings. Leviticus 2:13
From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Matthew 4:17
Cultures are set on earthly things. But the ultimate citizenship of followers of Jesus is in heaven.
Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Philippians 3:19-21
The word unconditional doesn’t appear in the Bible—I checked several translations. And yes, sometimes there are things that aren’t said directly but are nevertheless true. But when I ask people what Scripture they base this on, they mostly point to God’s love for Israel—that doesn’t include everyone, which is a condition. Some quote John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…” This verse, rather than saying it doesn’t matter how you live or what you do, God still loves you, it speaks of a general love. God loves the world so much that he was willing to put his Son through suffering and death—and resurrection, to offer salvation to those who would believe and obey.
The Bible is full of “if—then” statements such as,
If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. John 15:19
Jesus’ replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” John 14:23,24
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31,32
God’s love isn’t mushy or shifting, but rock solid for those who believe in Jesus and follow his teachings.
If it were, how could one be a Christian at all if not by following Jesus teachings?
Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31,32
If Jesus’ teachings don’t apply to us, then we can’t be his disciples—Christians, or know the truth and be set free by it. How sad and empty that would be!
Yes, a few things Jesus said were specific to the situation but the truth is, we are to follow Jesus’ teachings in order to be his disciples, which results in knowing the Truth and in freedom..
The first churches—until the late 200’s, met in homes and did not have separate buildings. It takes hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars to build, buy and maintain church buildings, taking resources away from proclaiming the gospel. In many countries, church buildings make the Christians there a target for persecution and terrorist attacks; in those settings, house churches or night meetings in the woods work better, are closer to the original church and are no less real.
Really? Are medical personnel a breed apart from the rest of the world so that none of them are Christians? That none of them witness to each other? That they never go to community events or even have Christian family members, and no one but sick people to speak to them about Jesus? In fact, many medical workers are Christians.
Yes, God will turn anything for our good as Romans 8:28 says, but he’s a good father, and good fathers do NOT make their children sick. When human fathers do this, they end up in jail—or worse.
“Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Matthew 7:9-11
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, whohave been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
Jesus said it plainly that the only sin that can’t be forgiven is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. But what is that? Since the Bible interprets itself, we have to look at the context. The Pharisees were saying that Jesus did works of the Holy Spirit by the power of the devil. So, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit would be to attribute the works of the Holy Spirit to the devil. Very dangerous!
Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.” Mark 3:28-30
Sorry, it sounds good, but Jesus said that there is only one sin that can’t be forgiven—unforgivable, is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. But the good news is, anything else, everything else, once repented of—turned away from, is forgivable.
And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. Matthew 12:31,32
Jesus said that no one knows, not even he knew when he’d come back.
“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Matthew 24:36
“Date fixing,” predicting the day, month and year that Jesus will return, has caused much trouble—church splits, and has even given birth to wayward religions. Just be ready like the virgins in Jesus’ parable, waiting for the Bridegroom (Matthew 25:1-13). Make sure your heart is right before God, that you are truly following Jesus’ teachings, which is what it takes to be his disciple (John 8:31,32), and proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 4:17).
But people have been saying that at the turn of every century since the first one, whenever bad things happened (things have been very bad throughout the centuries), and at the turn of every century. And it didn’t happen. I started hearing this in the 1970’s and found that the idea made people fearful, nervous, unwilling to give themselves to the work of spreading the Kingdom of Heaven—they just wanted a one-way ticket off the earth. What makes our times any more “special” than any other generation’s, especially since our calendar is a fairly “new” one and a western way of counting the days and years? If a person really thinks that the end will come right away, they should be preaching the gospel day and night so that as many people can be saved as possible.
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
James 1:5
This was John the Baptizer’s role, to turn people back to the wisdom of God.
And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Luke 1:17
Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! Romans 11:33
Why would we want anything else?
The Bible makes clear distinctions between God’s wisdom and “worldly wisdom.” Worldly wisdom is “futile,” “foolishness in God’s sight,” and “unspiritual, demonic.” But wisdom from God is not only true but powerful, pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere” (1 Corinthians 3:19,20; James 3:17).
For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. 1 Corinthians 1:25
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” 1 Corinthians 3:19,20
But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth.Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. James 3:15-17
God offers everything we need; we don’t need to go looking for wisdom in all the wrong places. Jesus is The Truth. You can’t find better than him.
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.John 14:6
Anything that is not from Jesus is not the Truth, so why would we want it?
Urban Legends About God, the Bible & the Christian Life 