a bewildered mind at 2 a.m.
I am amazed at the fact that every time I lie down to sleep, I am still the same person that I was yesterday. And the day before that. And as long as I've existed. I've always been myself, I'll always be myself. I am me. And not anyone else. I am incapable of being someone else. This seems like a simple and silly and obvious though, but it's not. It's quite dynamic, really.
I go through many changes in a day, so many shifts and tears and emotions. How can I possibly be the same person that I was the day before? Life is shifting, moving, it is never stagnant.
Maybe we do change who we are. Maybe we change when we are shaped by our circumstances and by things that we have no control over. And we do change our physical appearance and we do change our attitudes. And we do change when we have a broken heart. And I suppose we change when we fall in love. And I've seen a human meet God, and I've seen that human change and become quite different.
But there's something inside us (or I'd like to think that there is) that is unchanging, it will not shift. It is constant; it is the essence of who we are. You are only you. There will never be any other you. You are the only you that you can be. And yes, as humans we will be shaped by the life swirling around us, and we will change and become different as we were before. Our qualities and traits are not static; you may gain more joy, your mind may grow in darkness. The human will meet God, the human will lose someone they love, the human will fall head over heels in love, the human will gain a new passion for nature, the human will be angered beyond words, the human will be lonely. Humans experience countless changes. What is beautiful is that in the midst of all these changes, the human is still itself. It has something that can never be taken away - the essence of its being.
I live in my body and experience in my body, but I am not my body. There is a spirit within me that is beyond my body, beyond my mind, and in that spirit lies the answer - the answer to how we can lie down at the end of the day and still be ourselves.
There is an intrinsic nature to humans, very much lovely, very much to be appreciated, very much full of God. We are who we are, and that can not be taken from us.
SAVED LIKE THE PARALYTIC?
ReplyDeleteThe proponents of "FAITH ONLY" salvation like to present the paralytic as an example of one who had his sins forgiven without being baptized in water. Their position is, since Jesus forgave the paralytic without being immersed in water; so then, baptism is not essential, for those living today, in order to have sins forgiven.
PARALYTIC SALVATION: Luke 5:18-20 And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and set him him down in front of Him. 19 But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus . 20 Seeing their faith , He said , "Friend, your sins are forgiven."
PARALYTIC SALVATION: Jesus forgave his sin because of the faith of friends.
Can men today be saved like the paralytic? No, they cannot!
The paralytic was saved without FAITH.
The paralytic was saved without REPENTANCE.
The paralytic was saved without CONFESSING Jesus as the Son of God.
The paralytic was saved without being BAPTIZED.
The paralytic was saved without BELIEVING that God raised Jesus from the dead.
The paralytic was saved without CONFESSING Jesus as Lord and Christ.
THE PARALYTIC PLAN OF SALVATION WAS- THE FAITH OF FRIENDS.
The paralytic was saved before the New Covenant was in force. Jesus had to die before the New Covenant was available.
Men today have to meet the terms of the New Agreement, that is the New Covenant.
NEW COVENANT: Hebrews 9:15-17 For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance. 16 For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one made it. 17 For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who lives made it.
The apostle Peter told all men how to be saved under the New Covenant. (Acts 2:22-41) A.D. 33 The Day of Pentecost.
New Covenant terms of pardon.
FAITH: John 3:16
REPENTANCE: Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19, Luke 24:47
CONFESSION: Romans 10:9-10, Acts 8:37
BAPTISM: Acts 2:38, Mark 16:16, 1 Peter 3:21, Acts 22:16, Colossians 2:12-13, Titus 3:5, John 3:5, Galatians 3:27, Romans 6:3-7
Was the paralytic saved? Yes, so was the thief on the cross, Enoch, Abraham, and many others before the New Covenant was in force, however, it was the blood of Jesus that washed away the sins of those who died under the Old Covenant.
IF MEN TODAY CAN HAVE THEIR SIN FORGIVEN LIKE THE PARALYTIC-----THEN THEY CAN BE SAVED WITHOUT FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST. THE PARALYTIC WAS SAVED BECAUSE OF THE FAITH OF FRIENDS!
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