Eternal Security? "IF" is Conditional.

IF Is Conditional

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Eternal Life

The controversy about the believer’s security is immediately ended by observing the various Bible passages related to eternal life that contain the little word “if”. Since if is the badge of a conditional statement, then the believer’s security is clearly conditionaland not unconditional with such evidence. Here are the eternal facts, like it or not:

By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. (1 Cor 15:2)

The one and only Christian “gospel” shouts out a conditional security for the believer. It is another gospel which denies that. As clear as that is, the following verses also supplement that gospel truth with more insights by saying the Christian must hold firmly till the end to share in Christ, etc.:

We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. (Heb 3:14)

For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, (Rom 8:13)

See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us–even eternal life. (1 John 2:24,25)

About a dozen other Scriptures could also be cited, but those four suffice to prove that the believer’s security held out in the Christian gospel is conditional, that us sharing in Christ is conditional, that the Christian experiencing spiritual death or not is conditional, and us remaining in Christ and having eternal life is also conditional. It doesn’t get any better than that as far as clarity!

Any person open to the truth of Scripture can verify those facts for themselves. The conclusion, though disturbing to many, is a conditional security for the believer.That means there is no once saved always saved or eternal security, since all those spiritually lethal things can occur and can therefore interfere with final salvation and inheriting eternal life (Gal. 6:8,9).

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Rest in the Lord

It is easy to get distracted in our world. Busyness is a modern illness from which many of us suffer. Rest is its opposite and of the things the Lord came to offer. In Matthew 11:28-30 He said:

Matthew 11:28-30
"Come to Me all who labor and are heavy laden AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I’m gently and lowly in heart, AND YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light"

Jesus Christ is the only one that can give rest to our souls. If your soul is in turmoil, if your soul is tired, exhausted and heavy laden, then you are reading the right passage. JESUS came to give you rest! You will not get rest when your kids grow up. Or when you get married. Or when your bank account becomes positive. YOU WILL GET REST ONLY IF YOU MEET JESUS. ONLY IF YOU PUT YOUR BURDENS IN HIS HANDS AND TAKE UPON YOU HIS EASY AND LIGHT YOKE, ONLY THEN YOU WILL FIND REST. As the Word says in Philippians:

Philippians 4:6-7
"BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING, BUT IN EVERYTHING BY PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION WITH THANKSGIVING, LET YOUR REQUESTS BE MADE KNOWN TO GOD; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus"

Be anxious for nothing!! YES for nothing!!! Your kids, your job, your health, your wounds, your finances, your other concerns are all here. There is NOTHING excluded from this statement. There is nothing that should make us anxious. And the verse goes one step further to tell us what to do instead of being anxious: "but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." PEACE!!! To get peace you don’t have to finish the so and so project or to receive the so and so blessing but to be anxious for nothing and cast everything to the Lord through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving! It is HIS job to CARE for you, while you rest in Him. And in resting in Him you have power! See what it says in Isaiah 30:15-18

Isaiah 30:15
"For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: IN RETURNING AND REST YOU SHALL BE SAVED; IN QUIETNESS AND CONFIDENCE SHALL BE YOUR STRENGTH."

Our strength is in RESTING in the Lord. In quietness and confidence! I call this the RRQC club: Return, Rest, be Quite and Confident to God. Taking quietness, for example we can see its importance in Jesus’ life: He would get up very early in the morning and go to the wilderness alone to pray (Mark 1:35)! He needed quite times with the Father. We need them too! We don’t need to fill our schedule with a hundred of activities to keep us going. We will not find strength in activities but only in quietness and confidence to God. It is at the times that our heart is quite and confident that the Lord can be heard by it.

Returning to Isaiah verse 16 gives us the answer of the people to the plea of God for return, rest, quietness and confidence, and the respective reply of the Lord:

Isaiah 30:16
"And you said, "No, for we will flee on horses" – Therefore you shall flee! And, "We will ride on swift horses" – Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift! One thousand shall flee at the threat of one, At the threat of five you shall flee, till you are left as a pole on top of a mountain and as a banner on a hill"

Those people had their plans on how to do it. You may have your own. You too may say "No, for….". You may try hard and care all the day. Do you know the price? Weakness, fear, anxiety, defeat. The more you trust in your "horsepower", the more weaker and dry you will get. The only way for strength and life and rest is to rest in the Lord. To be quite and confident in Him. To be anxious for nothing and cast all your cares upon Him. This is the ONLY way!

Jeremiah 6:16-17

Moving further on our subject, let’s go now to Jeremiah 6:16-17. In a similar tone with Isaiah, Jeremiah 6:16-17 tells us:

Jeremiah 6:16-17
"Thus says the Lord: Stand in the ways and see and ask for the old paths, where the good way is and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls. But they said, "We will not walk in it." Also I set watchmen over you saying, "Listen to the sound of the trumpet!" But they said, "We will not listen"

"The old paths. Return to the OLD PATHS. Walk in the old straight paths and you will find rest, our God says. Return, Rest, Be quite and Confident in God. Get today into the RRQC club. Jesus is the leader and He will give you REST and peace. To register costs nothing except your cares! You have to cast them all upon God and peace will be given to you. What do you prefer: Busyness and distraction, or rest and peace? Dryness and weakness or fruitfulness and strength? Death or life? Really it is that critical. The matter of the rest in the Lord is indeed a spiritual fight! A battle between fruitfulness and unfruitfulness. As Psalms 37:7 again tell us:

Psalms 37:7
"REST IN THE LORD AND WAIT PATIENTLY FOR HIM"

Let’s wait patiently in the Lord and rest in Him! Let’s NEVER leave any foreign seed to spring in our garden and make our tree barren.

Anastasios Kioulachoglou

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Brethren, we cannot understand Calvinism and Catholicism, unless we know about Augustine who prayed to the dead, was ignorant of the Greek language, murdered those of different bible beliefs, etc, etc. The early church was in unison after the disciples died. One point they all agreed on was man's free will. 

Augustine gave us the false teaching of Calvinism and it has perverted almost all churches. Augustine believed in:
1) praying to the dead
2) persecuting heretics
3) infant damnation
4) transmission of sins
5) infant baptism
6) baptismal regeneration
Calvin was responsible for the death of a man who disagreed with him. 
I was raised in Calvinism. I taught it countless times. The Lord delivered me! "No one has ever come to Calvinism without the help of a false teacher. I know. I was both". Calvinism is very close to Islam. Calvinism tells us Jesus went through the torment of the cross and wrath of His Father, for a bride who had no choice. warren

The Giver Of Grace

Posted on April 25, 2015 by Eternal Life

Who is the giver of grace and what are the conditions, if any, to be on the receiving end of saving grace? Those are vital questions we all need to have answers for, since we are saved by grace (Eph. 2:8.9).

Different Popular But Lethal Views About Grace

Calvinism teaches:

• Grace is unmerited favor with no conditions and given by God, as he sovereignly decides to limit such for the elect only, with NO CHANCE for all others to get it. For them it is once in grace always in grace — meaning now that the elect are in grace they can’t get out of it (or salvation) even if they wanted to!

Calvinism (or Reformed Theology) calls the above unconditional election and eternal security. Both are wildly deceptive and antithetical to New Testament grace, though taught as the doctrines of grace! All five points of Calvinism are inter-related and hang or fall together, so if one point of Calvinism does, down all five points go, down together!

Click Here To Read and/or Print What Is A Calvinist

Roman Catholicism teaches:

• Grace is given by Mary, not God, upon her conditions!

In Catholicism, Mary is the mediatrix and dispenser of all grace! That is an astounding responsibility to assign to a creature, but Catholicism has openly and boldly taught this to their people. The implications are:

• Mary is needed for salvation, as the mediatrix and dispenser of grace
• Her conditions to receive grace for salvation, at the hour of death, areCatholic oriented. (See below.)

The Real Grace of God

In reality, the real grace of God is only given to the humble by God himself, thus repudiating the false claim that it isunmerited, for if it was unmerited (implying no conditions to receive it), then even the non-humble (the proud) would receive it, but they don’t! The proud are always, 100% of the time, opposed by God. [Other verses imply that receiving the life givinggrace of God is open for ALL people and not limited to only some.]

The real grace of God is given by God alone. God does NOT dispense grace through Mary or any other creature, according to his word. It is given by God upon the condition of being humble. The proud do NOT get grace! In bold contrast, Catholicism opposes Solomon, James and Peter who all stated that [ONLY] the humble get grace from God:

He mocks proud mockers but gives grace to the humble. (Prov 3:34)

But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)

All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Pet 5:5)

The fallacious (and demonic) conditions to get saving grace in Catholicism from Our Lady of Fatima are specific and deadly. Remember that the Catholic hierarchy themselves endorsed the following, and a billion plus trusting people believe this:

I [Mary of Catholicism] promise to assist at the hour of death with the GRACES necessary for salvation, all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, go to Confession and receive Holy Communion, recite five decades of the Rosary and keep me company for a quarter of an hour while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me (1917 Fatima Apparitions).

Various Popes Taught Salvation Through Mary

Not only is it stated there that Mary gives saving grace, but the conditions required for the recipients are impossible for NON-Catholics (go to Confession, receive Holy Communion, etc.)! Furthermore, the focus of those conditions is MARY (not the Lord Jesus)! That reveals a very serious problem for 1.2 billion Catholics, namely, their spiritual leaders have lethally misled them! How? Their leaders have “approved” the Fatima apparitions, including the above conditions to get saving grace at the hour of our death from Mary, and by doing so have rejected the Biblical record! If sincere Catholics try to get saving grace, as per Our Lady of Fatima, they are disobeying the only real way to get it as stated in the Bible, thus disallowing them from receiving the true saving grace from God and eternal life. Hence, sincere Catholics remain addicted to their sins and without eternal life. Their gospel is powerless toset the captives free and cleanse their hearts from sin, especially since their misguided focus is on Mary and not Jesus alone WITHOUT Mary too!

Without question, grace is vital to know about, but both Calvinism and Catholicismhave grossly misled their faithful followers, thereby standing between them and truesalvation for their souls. Who will rise up and roar out these truths aboutgrace before they die in their sins?

Evangelical Outreach
PO Box 265
Washington, PA 15301About Eternal Life

http://www.eternallifeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/Dan-Corner-Evangelizing.jpg Dedicated to proclaiming and defending the gospel of Jesus Christ without compromise. eternallife@eternallifeblog.com

One Thing Bugged Him, Homosexuality

One Thing Bugged Me, Homosexuality

I was born in a "Christian" family. We were Christians only to the extent of going to church once a week and praying before meals. My mom abused me when I was very little and my dad was not around very much. He was in the military and when my dad was around, sometimes he would say things that hurt me. I got so depressed when I was little that I've thought of suicides many time and even got to the point where I took a knife and put it on my wrist, but God always prevented that by putting encouraging thoughts in my mind. One thing bugged me, homosexuality. As I grew older, the desires got stronger. At first, I tried to deny those desires. I tried to repress it but it made me a terrible person. I had to wear a mask everyday and it was wearing me out. I became a bitter and angry person. I also prayed for God to remove it but nothing happened. So, one day I got sick of all that, I decided to just accept homosexuality because I felt like I can't change myself, in spite of my many attempts. I could stay *clean* for 3-6 months without homosexuality but always got back to the old lifestyle. When I decided to just enjoy homosexuality, I said goodbye to God. I still didn't hate God, I just felt like I was unworthy for Him. So, I might as well go to hell. I was "ready" to go to hell... but later I found out God wasn't ready for that! My lowest point was last year... I did shameful things that I don't even want to mention now, and during those "godless" and lust indulging years, I knew God was calling me many times but I hardened my heart towards Him each time. I wanted God to just go away, so I can enjoy homosexuality. But last year, I felt so depraved and lost. I hit rock bottom. I was always lusting over porn or someone. It was very hard for me to have a decent talk with my parents. Somehow I always got angry when talking to them. I was always bored, never really at peace. I have become the worst I've ever been and I realized this, and yet I couldn't change it. It was like I was being controlled. So, one day I started thinking about my life because I felt like I was not going anywhere (more like I didn't know where I was going, I was lost!) and I felt like I have been a total waste. I didn't want to spend my life like this. Remember I have forgotten about God completely, so I didn't even think of going back to Him. Until He started to approach me. He reminded me of His blessings in my life and suddenly it hit I'm not worthless! And then I understand God wants me to follow Him but I had to leave all my sins behind, in order to do that. Now, I didn't decide right away. In fact, I thought about it for several minutes and couldn't decide because at that time I didn't want to leave homosexuality. I was comfortable with that and it brought me pleasure to some extent. But then, I heard this "Only fools reject My perfect love". It was a like a wake up call for me. And quickly I told God, "Oh Lord, I don't want to be that fool, ok Lord, I will follow You and leave my sin behind." After I made my decision, I prayed. My repentance prayer was quite simple:

Father in Heaven, I am sorry I have hardened my heart towards You. Please forgive me for my sins. I am all yours now. Make me the way You want me to be and only Your will be done in my life. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

And after that prayer, I felt totally different. First thing I noticed was that I don't have any hatred at all. I could only feel love, joy, and peace. I felt pure. And the second thing, I noticed I don't have any homosexual desires anymore. I now can talk to my parents normally and all I want to do now is to please God. After that, a verse popped in my mind, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Mat 6:33). So, I started reading Christian literatures and of course the Bible to find out what God wants, to get to know Him more. It turned out God wants me to serve Him. So, ever since then I try to serve Him, whether it's witnessing to people or writing His truth for fellow Christians or spreading tracts. My prayer now is that I will endure to my last breath. I realize the need to keep a holy and righteous life, especially since I'm serving Him now. I never want to go back to my old life it was depravity and worse, I was heading for hell!

Evangelical Outreach
PO Box 265
Washington, PA 15301

About Eternal Life

http://www.eternallifeblog.com/wp-content/uploads/Dan-Corner-Evangelizing.jpg Dedicated to proclaiming and defending the gospel of Jesus Christ without compromise. eternallife@eternallifeblog.com

Are Christians Mere Men?

Mere Men?

I was recently reading in Matthew 4 the temptations of Christ in the wilderness. The adversary two times challenged Him with the phrase "If you are the Son of God". Taking it in another way, it sounded to me like "Jesus, you are not the Son of God. You are just a mere man... if you fall down from the temple nobody is going to pick you up. If you are hungry nobody is going to feed you. Come on try....can you make these stones bread? Can you fall down from the temple? Go ahead try, if you are not but a mere human being i.e. if you are the Son of God". It is the same story with us today. We are sons and daughters of God and the enemy wants to persuade us that we are nothing else but helpless human beings. He whispers to our ears: "you are alone in this world .... your God is very far away. Just settle down as anybody else.".

We are human beings like anybody else on this earth. Right. BUT, and this is the BUT that he was distorting with Christ and with us: we are also CHILDREN OF THE KING. We have a home in His palace right now, a place in his hug right now. We are not the helpless beings he presents to us but God’s kids!! "BELOVED NOW WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD" says the Word (I John 3:2). This is what WE ARE NOW. This is what you heavenly ID says. It goes like this: Name: [Put your name here] Known: Before the foundation of the world, Born by: God, Saved by: Jesus Christ, he/she is: Son/Daughter of God, Access to God's hug: unlimited.

Mediocrity ("be as anybody else" with the hidden sentence behind it: "because YOU ARE as anybody else") is a weapon of the devil against the excellence of God's kids. We are men but not "mere" men. We are NOT as anybody else. We are God's kids NOW. Let's rest in the Father's hug, relaxing in His lap, today and tomorrow and for ever. It is there where we belong.

Anastasios Kioulachoglou

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Calvinism, Islam and the True Gospel.

I was reading in John 4 and saw this pattern. 

  15The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.” 16He said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.” 17The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; 18for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.”19The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20“Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” 21Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem WILL YOU WORSHIP THE FATHER.

John 4: NASB

1) Jesus' rebuke: "22“You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

2) The correction:  23“But an hour is coming, AND NOW IS, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; 

3) The Proclamation:   for such people the Father SEEKS TO BE HIS WORSHIPERS. 

4) The Requirement:  24“God is spirit, and those who worship Him MUST WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH.” 

5) Faith responds:  25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” 

6) Jesus reveals himself:  26Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

Jesus seeks people to be His worshipers. Jesus did not force this woman to be saved as Calvinists say. Jesus did not go though a meaningless song and dance, false discussion and then force the woman to believe in Him.  That is Islam. 

"No one has ever come to Calvinism without a false teacher. I know. I was both." warren 

Stay away from Reformed Churches. They go back to the disgusting Augustine. He prayed to the dead, killed a man because he disagreed, etc, etc. He  was so very ignorant of the scriptures.

Christian, Weep With Those Who Weep.

Weep with those who weep

We find this passage in Romans 12:15. There, starting from verse 14 we read:

Romans 12:14-15
«Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. REJOICE WITH THOSE WHO REJOICE AND WEEP WITH THOSE WHO WEEP»

«Weep with those who weep», says the Word of God. There will be times that people around us or we ourselves will go through difficult situations; situations that may bring affliction and weeping. What should we do then? We should stand together with one another having compassion and understanding, «weeping with those who weep». When Job’s three friends went to see him, they tore their clothes and wept with him (Job 2:11-13). When Jesus went to see Lazarus’ family, he wept (John 11:35). As I Corinthians 12:25-26 tells us:

I Corinthians 12:24-26
«But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. AND IF ONE MEMBER SUFFERS, ALL THE MEMBERS SUFFER WITH IT; OR IF ONE MEMBER IS HONORED, ALL THE MEMBERS REJOICE WITH IT»

There will be times that a member of the body will be honored. Let’s rejoice with it. And there will be times that a member will suffer. Let’s suffer with it. As James says concerning suffering people like, widows and orphans:

James 1:27
«Pure and undefiled religion before God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world»

Is a brother in trouble? Do not avoid him. Visit him. Suffer with him. There is a time to weep and a time to laugh says the Word of God (Ecclesiastes 3:4). This is not just for some of us but for all of us. If therefore is a time of weeping for a brother let’s not be indifferent, but let’s suffer with him. And conversely, if it is a time of laughing and joy, let’s not be zealous but let’s rejoice with him.

Anastasios Kioulachoglou

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The Word of God is Near You.

The word is near you

In Deuteronomy 30 we find Moses bringing the people of Israel in covenant with the Lord, mentioning the blessings that they would have by obeying Him as well as the curse that would bring to them a possible disobedience. It was the verse 14 that drew my attention when I was reading the relative passages. To take the context into account, let’s start reading from verse 9:

Deuteronomy 30:9-10
"The Lord your God will make you abound in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your land for good. For the Lord will again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul."

The Lord would bless abundantly His people, if they obeyed His word, His commandments. And he continues:

Deuteronomy 30:11-14
"For this commandment which I command you today is not mysterious for you, nor is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, `Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, `Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?' But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it."

It was this last verse that attracted my attention, as it was this verse the Spirit of God, hundreds of years later, brought to the hand of Paul this time, speaking not to the people of Israel but to the church of Jesus Christ:

Romans 10:6-10
"But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, "Do not say in your heart, `Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down from above) or," `Who will descend into the abyss?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

The Lord in Deuteronomy speaking of His commandment He said that it is not far nor is it mysterious. It is not something difficult to determine and which nobody knows its meaning. His Word is not a puzzle. They didn’t have to go up to the heaven or over the sea to find it. They didn’t have to become ponderous or professors of theology to understand it. It was very close, in their mouth and heart. And these are the words, the Spirit of God uses to speak about the faith in the incarnate Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. You do not need to turn heaven and earth upside down to find the salvation. You do not need to go over the sea. You do not need to become heavy with much knowledge in order to understand what you should do. The Word of God is near you. In your mouth and in your heart. And this is summed up in the following phrase:

"that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved"

The word of salvation is simple, as simple as the above phrase. There is no need for heavy studies, for pursuits in theology and religions. There is no need of knowledge of special things for which only some have the key and you have to go out and search for them. None of this is needed. It is simply you and God. God has called you. He has called you to confess Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that He has raised Him from the dead. You now have to make a decision whether you will followand believe, this so near word of faith. These are not things far or difficult or mysterious. They are very near you. The salvation is so near you as your heart for the faith and your mouth for the confession. And as the Word of God exhorts:

II Corinthians 6:2
"Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

And as Hebrews 3:15 says:
"Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts"

Today, now, is the accepted time. Today, now, is the day of salvation. And if you decide to accept the "so near you word of faith today", now will be the day of salvation for you also!

"that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved"

Anastasios Kioulachoglou

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Christian, Are You Continuing in Faith? If So, You Are Known

You are known

I was recently speaking with my wife about a missionary of the 19th century that preached the gospel in China and then in Africa. It really impresses me that people I don’t know would do this. But what about all of us in the body of Christ? I don’t know you, you don’t know me but each of us is a member of the body of Christ; a member the Lord Jesus Christ - the Head of the body - knows personally very well. And here is the point: We may not be known by many. Our names many not make it to the pages of Christian magazines, the screen of Christian TV or the shelves of Christian bookshops. They may never be remembered, as Paul’s or Peter’s name, and may not be among those mentioned in the church history books. BUT, and here is a big BUT, the LORD knows all of us perfectly well! For the Lord, all of us, known and unknown to men, have made a huge difference by believing in Him! All of us, known and unknown to men, ARE KNOWN BY HIM. To all of us that believe in Jesus Christ and in His resurrection is written in Romans 8:

Romans 8:28-39
"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to Hispurpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: "For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

These words are not written only to famous Christians, only to those who gave their life for the faith, or only to those for whom we read about in the Bible. These words are also written to US, the simple believers in Jesus Christ. May be in this world our names will not make it past the pages of the telephone book BUT they have made it to the pages of the book of life! May be in this world only few will know and remember us BUT I KNOW ONE THAT IS NEVER GOING TO FORGET US: GOD.

Isaiah 49:15
"Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you."

Hebrews 13:5
"He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

Do you know all the 12 apostles?

Continuing on the same topic, I would like to go to Matthew 10:2-4 where the names of the 12 apostles are given. There we read:

Matthew 10:2-4
"Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him."

I’m sure you will find very few people who don’t know Peter, John and Thomas. But I’m pretty sure that you will also find few that if asked who were the twelve they would without difficulty remember Simon the Canaanite or Lebbaeus or James the son of Alphaus. These are the rather "unknown" of the 12. Except occasions like the above, we will find them mentioned in the Scripture only with the collective term the twelve or "the disciples". They don’t have their own epistle in the New Testament, they do not have their own story in Acts and we don’t hear much about them in the gospels. They were however disciples of Christ, PERSONALLY CHOSEN AND KNOWN FULLY WELL BY HIM….. As you and I! As the Lord said:

John 15:16
"You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you."

It is not we that chose the Lord but the Lord that chose us, YOU, personally. You are his personal choice, his preference, greatly favored by Him! His love for YOU passes knowledge it says in Ephesians 3:19! And as II Corinthians 15:58 tells us:

II Corinthians 15:58
"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

Your work in the body of Christ is NOT in vain. You may not be somebody that Church history (as it is written on earth) will ever write about but you are somebody that Church history as it is written in heaven will do. You are chosen by the Lord and your labor for Him is not in vain! KEEP IT UP strongly! You are personally chosen by Christ "to go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain"

Anastasios Kioulachoglou

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