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CHRISTIAN'S GOD/DEITY MORALITY RELIGIONS LIFE IN-DEPTH BRIEF FAMILY CREATION COURSES AUDIO COMMENTARIES ARTICLES TOPICS BIBLE SALVATION CHURCH
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Those inside the houses marked by blood were spared from death. Those who were outside were slain. Cities of Refuge Numbers 35:9-11,26-28 If a man accidentally killed a person, he was to flee to the nearest city of refuge. If the death was found to be accidental, he would be protected as long as he remained in the city of refuge. Safety was found only inside the city. If for any reason whether from unbelief, negligence, rebellion, or any form of disobedience - if he went outside the city he could be slain . Rahabs house Joshua 2:18,19; 6:17 When Joshua sent spies to spy out Jericho, Rahab hid them and saved their lives. In return, they told her that, when they came to destroy the city, she should bring into her house any of her relatives who wanted to be spared. Anyone who was in her house would be spared. Anyone who was outside the house, for whatever reason, would be destroyed. [Josh. 6:21-23] All these are examples of physical blessings. To receive the blessings, people had to be in a certain physical place. Those who were not in the proper place would not receive the blessings. But the same is true for Gods spiritual blessings today. God has placed spiritual blessings for us in a specific place (relationship). To receive the blessings, people must be in the proper place. That place is in Christ. To receive the blessings that God promises to those who seek salvation, we must come into Christ and remain in Him. Those who refuse to come into Christ (or who try to come in but not according to Gods way), will not receive the blessings God offers.
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1 Corinthians 6:19 Our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in us. Note the similarity to the above passages. Most people can understand that, for the Father and Son to be in us, means we have a close relationship: a fellowship of unity and oneness. If so, then we should be able to understand that, for the Holy Spirit to be in us, means the same thing. So for us to be in Christ means to be in a close, harmonious spiritual relation with Him. As a result, we receive the blessings He offers. [1 Cor. 3:16; Acts 5:32; Rom. 8:9-11; Tit. 3:5,6; James 4:5; 2 Tim. 1:14; Gal. 4:6; John 14:16,17; 1 John 4:13; Rom. 5:5; 2 Cor. 13:14; Heb. 6:4; John 7:37-39; Eph. 2:22; Acts 2:38; 2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5; Eph. 1:13,14; 4:30; 5:18]
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fallen from grace. Gods grace is the unmerited, undeserved favor that He extends to us by the blood of Jesus. We deserved to be under eternal condemnation because of our sins. But because God loves us, He sent Jesus to die for us so we could be saved though we do not deserve it. Since Jesus is the sacrifice for our sins, grace is found only in Him. If we are estranged or severed from Christ, we are separated from that grace. Those who believe in salvation by grace must come into Christ to obtain that grace. Salvation from sin in Christ (but no salvation outside Christ) 2 Timothy 2:10 Salvation is in Christ with eternal glory. Acts 4:12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. In order to receive eternal glory and avoid eternal punishment, we must be saved (rescued) from our sins. This salvation is found in Christ and cannot be found anywhere else. The love of God is in Christ (but outside Christ we do not abide in Gods love) Romans 8:39 The love of God is in Christ Jesus our Lord (nothing created can separate us from that love). John 15:9,10 If we keep Jesus commands we abide in His love. But if we dont obey Him, we are cut off as a branch and burned (v6). God still offers His love even toward those who sin. But if we do not serve Him, then we do not abide in that love and do not receive the benefits of it. [John 14:23] Eternal life in Christ (but eternal death outside Christ) 1 John 5:11-12 God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. Eternal life is available to those who have fellowship with Jesus. If we continue in sin, we do not have fellowship with Jesus and do not have the hope of eternal life. [Rom. 6:23; John 1:4; 14:6; 2 Tim. 1:1] All spiritual blessings in Christ (but separation from these blessings outside Christ) Ephesians 1:3 God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. It follows, therefore, that if we are not in Christ we do not have the spiritual blessings God has for His people. This is why we need to be in Christ.
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Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. You cannot be in Christ until you come into Him, and you come into Him at the point of baptism. Baptism must be preceded by hearing the gospel and believing in Jesus, repenting of sins, and confessing Jesus (Mark 16:15,16; Acts 2:38; Rom. 10:9,10). Without these, baptism would not be Scriptural nor valid. But when one has done these things and then is baptized, then he comes into Christ. A person takes several steps toward Christ, but there is one step that puts him into Christ. Compare this to the ark in Noahs day. To be saved, Noah and his family had to be in the ark. There were many steps that prepared them to enter the ark. They had to believe Gods commands and obey them by building the ark. But they were not safe from the flood until the time when they entered the ark. All the preparation was essential, but there was a point at which the preparation was completed and they entered the ark. Without that step and prior to that point they were still outside the place of safety. The same would be true of entering the city of refuge, Rahabs house, etc. There was a specific action and a specific point in which people came into the place of safety. Before that they may have been preparing themselves, but they were not safe till they entered the place God commanded. So there are several steps that precede baptism and are all essential to prepare one to receive the blessings in Christ. But baptism is the completion of the procedure and puts one into Christ. If all the blessings we listed are in Christ, and one comes into Christ by being Scripturally baptized, what is the condition of one who has never been baptized or did not do it Scripturally? Suppose someone thought he was saved and was already in Christ before baptism. If he then received something he thought was baptism, would it be a Scripturally valid baptism? Would he be doing it for the right reason?
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1 John 2:3-6 To know we are abiding in Him we must keep His commands and walk as He walked. Note: To have the blessings in Christ we must abide in Christ, else we will be cast forth and burned. To know we are in Him, we must obey Him. Hence, we must come into Him by obeying His conditions of forgiveness and abide in Him by continuing to serve Him faithfully. [2 John 9,10; 2 Cor. 6:16-18] Revelation 14:13 We must die in Him. We must continue to serve Him faithfully till death. Being in Christ requires a lifetime commitment of faithful service to Him. This does not mean if we sin our case is hopeless. We can be forgiven again, but in order to remain in Him we must turn from sin and diligently strive to overcome it in our lives.
Conclusion
If we truly come into Christ and abide in Him, then we have all spiritual blessings in Him. Then we can rejoice in Him (Phil. 4:4) [3:1]. There is much reason to rejoice if all these blessings are ours. But so long as we remain outside Him or have fallen away from His service, we have no reason for joy, since we have none of the blessings that are found in His fellowship. Where are you in relationship to Christ? Note: Many people respond to these thoughts by claiming that we are saved by faith alone without obedience or that nothing we do is essential to salvation. Others wonder about the thief on the cross. These questions are dealt with in other articles on this site. Please see the links below for further information. (C) Copyright 2007, David E. Pratte Local churches and individuals may, within limits, distribute this Bible study guide for free, but not for sale. Web sites may link to this page but not reproduce it. For details click here for our copyright guidelines. (Picture copyright Bob West) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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