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The Cutting Edge Gospel: What is the Gospel? March 11, 2013

Posted by Henry in The Cutting Edge Gospel.
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6 comments

The Cutting Edge Gospel: What is the Gospel?

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Heb 12:4)

What is the Gospel? The Gospel essentially is the good news of salvation first spoken of by the Old Testament prophets and which was delivered and fulfilled by our Lord Jesus Christ. The Gospel calls us to repent and to turn away from our sins so that in the fullness of time we will be saved from eternal damnation. In a world full of many voices and many messages even in the church, the Gospel can sometimes be hard to pin down precisely. However, Paul speaking to the Corinthian church summarizes the Gospel in the following verses of 1 Cor 15:

1Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

Since Christ died was buried and resurrected we too can one day be resurrected to eternal life if we believe this Gospel message, repent of our sins and live a life of faith in Jesus Christ.

Do Christians go straight to Heaven when they die? September 29, 2011

Posted by Henry in Matters of the Faith.
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43 comments

This issue was raised by Marianne under another post on “The Heresy of the Heaven’s Gate cult” and I thought I would separate the issues out by dedicating this issue to its own post.

It is my firm belief that Christians DO NOT go straight to heaven when they die and that is what I believe scripture is saying. By the same token though we might equally ask do sinners go straight to hell when they die?

Here is a detailed study which I believe has done a fine job in presenting the case that Christians do not go to heaven on death.

What do others think? Lets hear your views.

Will You Be Left Behind? July 9, 2010

Posted by Henry in Eschatology & End Times.
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65 comments

Each time I look at this issue of the rapture I can’t help but be amazed and amused at how people can be so easily persuaded to believe something that is not even founded in scripture. I guess this is one of the results of extra-biblical materials from people who claim to have some kind of secret knowledge or insight. Take the Left Behind books for instance. These are nothing but fiction yet people buy and believe in them as if they are gospel truth. If Tim Lahaye (et al) really believed in an imminent rapture I don’t think they would be so concerned with amassing wealth now would they. After all where are they going to spend all that money, in Heaven? Already 63 million copies of this book have been sold worldwide and there are movies and games to go with it and yet people are unable to see into the scam of it all. If these men really believed the stuff they wrote they wouldn’t be trying to peddle it but instead they would be given this info out for free. 

The simple truth is that there is no imminent rapture. Strictly speaking the idea behind an imminent rapture is that Jesus can come anytime (or the church can and will be miraculously wisked away before you can say ABC) but of course if we read scripture we can discern that this is not so. To add to that the idea of a pre-tribulation rapture is a LIE – It is a complete fabrication by fantasists. Simply put, a pre-tribulation rapture purports that the church will be raptured before the man of sin, the son of perdition (synonymous with the anti-christ beast of Revelations) comes to fore but again I will show that this is simply not so.

Paul writing to the Thessalonians had this to say:

2 Thess 2

1Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

He was encouraging the brethren that they should not be deceived or be troubled in spirit concerning the day of Christ being at hand (or imminent). And as such he reminded them of a key sign which would need to take place before the day of Christ came. This sign was that the falling away (OF THE CHURCH INTO APOSTACY) and the revealing of the man of sin would need to take place first. If this man of sin is the same as the anti-christ beast of Revelations then Paul’s explanation here is corroborated by Rev 20:4-5 which makes it clear that the first resurrection (which is considered the rapture) takes place after the anti-christ was already in power and persecuting and killing the saints. It should be noted that the scripture which is cited for the rapture is 1 Thess 4:13-17. Essentially the resurrection and catching away must necessarily be the FIRST resurrection which included those who were also beheaded by the beast and those who overcame his mark and image.

In light of this therefore where is the pre-tribulation rapture and how can it be imminent? Yet you have people falling over themselves looking at Jewish feast days and wedding ceremonies trying to prove something that is clearly not in scripture. Why are so many people being deceived on this issue which is so simple to understand?