Saturday, June 22, 2019

Is This the Only 'Day' of Salvation for Everyone?

Most Christians believe that if you die without having made Jesus Christ your personal Saviour, you will not, and indeed cannot, be saved. They claim that 'Now is the ONLY Day of salvation'. Interestingly, they get this idea from 2 Cor 6:2 which is a MIStranslation of Isaiah 49:8 where Isaiah wrote, "...in A day of salvation, I helped thee...." (quoting Yahweh, KJV). The Bible does NOT teach that this is THE Day of salvation for all humanity. Down through the centuries and even millennia, the religion of the God of the Bible has never been the main religion of humanity. Even today, the vast majority of people do not believe the Bible is the reliable authoritative Word of God. That includes most of the two billion plus professing Christians around the world who are Christian in name only. Let's face it, IF this is the only day of salvation, God is on the losing side!
We read in 1 Titus 2:3, 4 that it is God's (Jesus') desire that all men (people) be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.  That requires a converted mind and a love of the Scriptures. That rules out the vast majority of professing Christians. So, what's gone wrong and what are we to make of this worrying situation? Is there, as one denomination teaches, a 'great controversy' or fight going on between God and Satan?  Is God really weaker than Satan who desires that everyone be lost? This is a complex dilemma that most people cannot make sense of. That is because very few people share Jesus' desire that all men (people) come to the knowledge of the truth. That requires time and effort. That seems too high a price for even most professing Christians. Instead of asking those questions above, they should be ready always to give an answer (1 Pet 3:15) to unbelievers to help them understand the real 'behind-the-scenes' situation that cannot be seen by human eyes.
A famous worship hymn is titled 'Trust and Obey'. If a person wants to come to the knowledge of the truth, he or she must learn to trust and obey God. Then, as you grow (spiritually) in the Lord, your understanding of the truths of God's Word will increase and He will enable you to see hidden nuggets of truth that the vast majority of humanity cannot see. They are hidden from all but a small select 'few' who are selected by Him to be members of His body of believers who make up the Church (which come s from a Greek word that means, a calling out or, called out ones). Jesus taught those who followed him that 'No one can come to Me unless God (the Father) call him (or her) (John 6.44 and v. 65). No-one can just decide for themselves to become a Christian. Each individual must be called and drawn by God the Father. No-one chooses God; He chooses us, individually. Great mystery!
When God draws a person toward Him, He will open that persons mind to realize that the Sabbaths of Leviticus 23 are to be observed by His people today.That includes the 7th-day Sabbath (Saturday) and Passover and the six annual festivals that He gave to His people in the wilderness under Moses' leadership. They were never 'done away' and 'nailed to the cross' as so many professing Christians believe. When the person who is being called by God grows in wisdom and understanding, He (or she) will believe that they must start observing those holy days. The last of the annual seven Sabbaths is the one that's relevant to this topic. This day is 'tacked onto' the Feast of Tabernacles, a 7-day post harvest festival that's held in September/October every year. It is a separate festival with a distinct meaning even though it's called the 'eighth day' (of the Feast) (Lev. 23:36). This day represents a time after the long-awaited Millennium when all those who were never called in this life will have their first opportunity to be saved. God has a wonderful plan of salvation that is only fully understood when you observe the annual Sabbaths. God will help you understand various hard-to-understand passages and verses when you 'trust and obey' Him enough to do as He says and keep His festivals. Never forget these are 'the feasts of the Lord' (Lev 23:2). They are still valid for God's people today in 2019! It is vitally important to realize we are NOT talking about a second chance of salvation! The vast majority who have ever lived, as well as all those who were not born alive, never had a fair chance to accept Jesus' sacrifice on Calvary's cross as full payment for their sins! Vast numbers of people never even heard the name of Jesus through no fault of their own. And yet we read in Acts 4:10-12 that there is no other name under heaven by which we can (must) be saved.  After the Millennium, the soon-coming one thousand year reign of Jesus over the entire Earth, there will be a vast resurrection of upwards of 50 BILLION people who died uncalled by God to receive salvation. This will be their first opportunity to receive the full knowledge of the truth. Satan and his demons will be banished and there will be no false religions to confuse and divide people then. There will be one pure language and everyone will be steered toward living according to the Ten Commandments. All those who died before and as a result of the Flood of Noah's time will come up in this 'Great White Throne Judgment' also known as the second resurrection. As well as the many billions of people who lived and died during the 3,500 years since the Flood. (During the Millennium, a massive worldwide project to increase fertile land will take place so there will be enough room for everyone who will be brought back to physical life in a little over a thousand years from now.) That will be the day of salvation for the vast majority of humanity, not our time on Earth now!

***I will be adding more material to and 'polishing up' this post during the coming days so check back soon***