The phrase “but God” appears throughout the entire Bible, and sometimes another word like “with” is added. One example is Matthew 19:24-26. Jesus is giving a lesson to His disciples about the difficulty for rich people to enter the kingdom of Heaven. He makes it plain it is not impossible, but that many who are wealthy put all their faith and trust in earthly treasures rather than in our Heavenly Father, who also just happens to be our Creator. (any emphasis mine)
Jesus said, “Again, I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God. When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, ‘Who then can be saved?’ But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible; but with God, all things are possible’” (ESV).
There was a saying I heard years ago that stated, “God created man in His own image; and ever since then man has tried to repay Him by putting Him in their own image.” Only the Triune God is Omnipotent (all powerful), Omniscient (all knowing) and Omnipresent (everywhere at the same time).
Satan and his demons don’t even come close to having these qualities, even though he causes people to believe he does. He is the father of lies and deception and hits on human ego and pride to get followers. All too often, people are willing to be deceived in order to gain “pleasure” from this world.
But God will provide assistance for those who have received Jesus, as given in 1 Corinthians 2:14-16; “The natural (worldly) person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him/her; and he/she is not able to understand them because they are “spiritually discerned” The Spiritual person judges all things, but is himself/herself to be judged by no one. For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.”
Plainly stated, there are those who are not guided by the Holy Spirit and lack a Spiritual perspective. Romans 10:17 states, “So faith comes from hearing (or studying), and hearing through the word of Christ.” Those who have chosen Satan and his temptations fall into 1 Corinthians 1:18; “For the word of the Cross is folly to those who are perishing; but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.”
God will force no one to call out to be saved but leaves our eternal choice up to each individual. He gives us all the tools necessary to be with Him forever, but each person must be willing to accept them. Those who hear the word, desire to learn more about Jesus, and ask for further understanding will receive it. When someone realizes this earth is but a blink of an eye compared to eternity, the mind becomes more open to learning about our options.
Satan would have us believe this earth is all we have, and we need to make the best of what we can have here. But God wants no one to be condemned and will give every opportunity for us to repent and call out to Jesus and be saved (2 Peter 3:9). The process is given in Romans 10:9-13, and it is not difficult.
Man tries to make it more “special” by coming up with special rituals, special oaths, monetary demands, and whatever it takes to make someone believe it’s all mystical and magic. But God gives the steps in plain, simple language so that everyone has the opportunity to understand and accept the process.
First, admit we are all sinners and in need of a Savior (Romans 3:23). Believe Jesus is the Son of God – one third of the Holy Trinity – that came to earth as a human to die for our sins because we could never atone for them ourselves. He was crucified, and as a human, died on that cross. He was put into a grave, and God raised Him on that third day to conquer sin and death for us – for Me! Our part is to accept His gift, and receive Him into our hearts as our eternal Savior who deserves all our praise and glory. All – everyone – who calls on the name of the Lord to be our Savior will be saved (Joel 2:32; Acts 2:21 and Romans 10:13).
Romans 5:6-9; “For while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die. But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since therefore we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the Wrath of God.” This is another promise for all true believers that we will not go through the tribulation. (Also see 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 and Revelation 3:20.)
Ephesians 2:4-6, 8-9; “But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places with Christ Jesus… For by grace you have been saved, through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God; not a result of works so that no one may boast.”
Satan wants to destroy and kill all of the Father’s creation because he knows there is no pathway possible for forgiveness for him and his fallen angels (demons). Matthew 25:41 states the Lake of Fire was created for him.
But God wants all to have a choice and wishes it would be that we choose Jesus and eternity with Him. As stated, He will force no one, as that would not be a sign of pure love. Our God could have made it so that we all were “slaves” and forced us to worship Him and go through all the rituals that man has devised. But God is not about what other gods supposedly demand – He is a God of pure and Holy love.
There is a sin that is unforgiveable, and that is to die without Jesus as your Savior. All else can be forgiven, and will be when Jesus has been received and accepted as your Savior. One other sin that is listed as being unforgiveable will be to take the mark of the beast, which is declaring the antichrist as god and denying the Heavenly Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Revelation 14:9-11).
We do not know the day or hour or the second, for that matter, when Jesus will return to call His flock (all true believers) up to meet Him in the air. This is described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-53. All the signs are present for the first time ever to let us know His coming for us is imminent. It could very well be today, but even if not, we need to be ready when he calls. After the Rapture takes place, it will still be possible to call out to Jesus, but the consequences will most likely be martyrdom. This is so easy to avoid.
Today would not be too early to receive and accept the gift that the Savior has provided. He took our sins to that cross, and shed His sin-free blood for us to have this privilege. Make your reservation now; He is waiting and is available 24-7 and is never too busy to hear from us. Hope to see you there.
Maranatha – Shalom! (Come quickly Lord Jesus – Peace be with you!)