Now without faith it is impossible to please [YeHoVaH]. For the one who comes to [YeHoVaH] must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.~ Hebrews 11:6 (The bracketed words are my emphasis.)
My debut novel is a faith-based book. It contains spiritual visions, rebellion, demonic attacks, a spiritual wilderness journey, reconciliation, and restoration.
Although my literary fiction deals with marriage and divorce, in this novel, I focus on how divorces are like amputations – how they both always leave people missing a piece of themselves. This focus is why the narrative highlights the demonic attacks that cause marital and familial struggles and losses prior to Triston’s and Zemora’s amputation of divorce – severed souls and spirits – and highlights their heartbreaks, losses, griefs, and afflictions that happen after their divorce.
Triston’s and Zemora’s presumed faith walk is tested. They find out why their lack of faith made it impossible for them to please YeHoVaH.
This novel is a good read for believing moms. It also is a great gift for Mother’s Day, as well as a fabulous gift for any holiday or special day.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. ~ Revelation 3:20
No one is reborn or saved by Grace through faith if he or she only agrees that the Bible is true but never acts on the preached Word – is never moved to repent and become totally committed to the Word’s Author (YeHoVaH) and to His Son nor moved to surrender and become totally obedient to YeHoVaH’s Commandments – all of them. The less than one hundred percent committed person, as well as the less than one hundred percent obedient person, is merely operating in the Mental Assent realm.
Sadly, every mental assenter who claims that because he or she believes the Bible is true means that he or she also believes in YeHoVaH and Yeshua, is lying to him or herself – especially when it is obvious that each mental assenter’s actions deny what he or she claims. The uncomfortable truth is that every mental assenter’s actions will deny what he or she claims because he or she has never been regenerated (reborn) or saved.
Now, while the Bible does say that salvation is a free gift, this biblical truth has come to mean to some people that salvation is “easy.” On the contrary, the Bible makes it clear that everyone who accepts Yeshua as his or her Lord and Savior is then reborn and saved, and the main result of his or her rebirth and salvation is a noticeably changed life.
The incorrect interpretation of what the Bible says about regeneration and salvation is found in modern evangelicalism. Today’s evangelists teach that all a lost soul needs to do to get into Heaven is to repeat their sinner’s prayer and he or she will have what this person prayed for – instant regeneration and salvation. This unbiblical teaching – the sinner’s prayer – has produced far too many people who have fallen prey to an “easy believism” belief. The foremost reason why the “easy believism” in modern evangelicalism’s sinner’s prayer never produces reborn and saved believers is that the invitation to repeat a sinner’s prayer never requires unbelievers to repent.
The bottom line is that there is no regeneration and no salvation without repentance. There is no repentance if someone never has a heartfelt conviction about his or her sins. Only a person who is genuinely convicted about sin will realize how offensive his or her sinful actions, emotions, beliefs, and lifestyle are to YeHoVaH. In other words, this person will feel contrite. His or her deep sorrow will cause this person to grieve over how offensive and rebellious his or her sinful actions, emotions, beliefs, and lifestyle are to YeHoVaH.
Moreover, it is only after a person has become truly sorrowful unto repentance that he or she is then reborn and saved. That’s right! it is authentic repentance that leads to the forgiveness of sin, the human spirit’s regeneration (new birth), the living soul’s salvation (the reconciliation and restoration of a believer’s spiritual fellowship with YeHoVaH), justification, and sanctification. This biblical and spiritual process is why no one can turn away from sin towards YeHoVaH and His holiness if he or she has not first repented his or her sins. Furthermore, this repentance truth is why genuine repentance is not simply a “rethinking” of someone’s relationship to sin and YeHoVaH after that person repeats a sinner’s prayer.
Once again, there is no regeneration and no salvation without repentance. Put differently, there can be no obvious change for the better in anyone’s former nature and lifestyle without that person’s real repentance experience. For this reason, an unrepentant believer in Yeshua and YeHoVaH – anyone who is not profoundly sorry about sinning; a person who does not really regret sinning – is still unregenerate and unsaved. As such, there is no way that this person can turn away from sin and turn toward YeHoVaH and His Holiness.
Sadly, all mental assenters are still unregenerate and unsaved. Once again, mental assenters only agree that the Bible is true but never act on the preached Word. They are never moved to repent and become totally committed to the Word’s Author (YeHoVaH) and to His Son, nor are they moved to surrender and become totally obedient to all of YeHoVaH’s Commandments.
In most cases, mental assenters are unregenerate and unsaved because they didn’t hear sermons on the true meaning of repentance, which would include instructions on what it means to receive Yeshua, what it means to confess Him as Lord and Savior, or how to be faithful to Him and obedient to YeHoVaH’s Commandments. These mental assenters were only asked to repeat a sinner’s prayer. However, there are also some mental assenters who did hear sermons on the true meaning of repentance but decided to pick and choose what they want to believe in the Word.
Lastly, those Christian evangelists who teach that a lost soul can be instantly saved when he or she repeats a sinner’s prayer have misused Revelation 3:20. First, in this verse, Yeshua is speaking to the confused, carnal, and lukewarm Laodicean who were reborn and saved believers who desperately needed to repent their current lifestyle. This truth is why YeHoVaH never intended for Revelation 3:20 to be used as an evangelistic sinner’s prayer Gospel tract that only encourages an unsaved person to invite Yeshua into their hearts. The best evangelistic Gospel tracts contain a succinct presentation of YeHoVaH’s Law, the Gospel of Yeshua, and a call for the readers to REPENT so that they can accept and receive Yeshua HaMashiach as their Lord and Savior.
Secondly, but most importantly, the word “heart” is not mentioned in Revelation 3:20. Moreover, the confused, carnal, lukewarm believers in the Laodicean ekklesia never asked Yeshua to do anything for them – especially not to come into their hearts because He was already there. He, however, was excluded from their fellowship assemblies. So the Laodicean ekklesia needed to be restored – needed to repair their relationship with Yeshua by improving and expanding on their previous relationship with Him, beginning with including Him in their fellowship assemblies. This biblical truth is why it is Yeshua who, in Revelation 3:20, does the asking. He asks the Laodiceans to hear His Voice. He promises to restore their fellowship with Him if they would hear His Voice AND open the door that allows Him to communicate with all of them at the same time.
When compared to Revelation’s Laodicean ekklesia, it is obvious that the problem with mental assenters is that they are not carnal believers, as many Christians call them. Mental assenters are unsaved individuals who are victims of an “easy believism” belief, as it relates tothe complete process of salvation. In other words, an “easy believism” belief is an unbiblical interpretation of Yeshua’s Gospel, repentance, regeneration, salvation, faith, and obedience. Therefore, today’s mental assenters are not confused, carnal, or lukewarm Laodicean believers who spiritually closed the fellowship door in Yeshua’s Face. Mental assenters are still unrepentant unbelievers – sinners who never had their old natures (spirits) reborn and who never had their living souls saved.
I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. ~ John 17:15-17, ESV
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ~ 2 Corinthians 5:20, ESV
In it, not of it. Deride us if you must, labeling other-worldliness and unworldliness annoying heresy, because of refusal to conform to world’s false and fleeting fashions— immoral conducts.
Not from it, sent into it. Set apart—sanctified: to NOT walk sinfully, as evildoers, doubters, backsliders; to NOT talk vilely, as non-believers, unbelievers, disbelievers; to NOT think wickedly, as atheists, agnostics, apostates.
Ambassadors for Christ. Sent into world with full power, with all authority, to publish and proclaim peace— the Gospel Message: reconciliation; the fullness of Christ.
‘For I know what plans I have in mind for you,’ says Adonai, ‘plans for well-being, not for bad things; so that you can have hope and a future.’ ~ Jeremiah 29:11, CJB
My deepest appreciation to you wonderful people for following, visiting, reading, liking, and/or commenting on any of my blog’s articles, poetry, musings, or pictures this past year. Each one of you marvelous people truly has been a blessing to me!
Additionally, my deepest appreciation to you incredible posters who have shared your blog’s awe-inspiring articles, poetry, musings, and/or pictures with me this past year. Thank you so much for sharing with me everything our God has given to you, because so much of what you have posted actually helped me to increase in knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. I absolutely have enjoyed everything I read and viewed in 2012, even if I didn’t click the “like” button or comment on your postings!
This New Year, as we turn over a new leaf and hope to do better, I pray that our Lord’s presence and guidance will be with us all, as we face the future. With every uncertainty of life that lies ahead of us, I pray that our Lord will continue to assure us of His unchanging love while kindling within us our faith in His hope and plan for our future.
Let us forgive every hurt
Let go of the past,
Seek God’s peace,
Respond to His reconciliation
Request and savor
His hope for the future,
This New Year.
Happy New Year, 2013!
The cartoon used in this blog posting is from Joyful ‘toons.
Although every church has wonderfully gifted counselors, the reconciliation and restoration of sinning Christians is not a ministry for one, or two, or three individuals. It is the ministry of each church’s entire congregation! We believers are responsible for others, for we are our brothers and sisters’ keepers.
Thus, EVERY Spirit-filled believer is a Christian counselor who is expected to lead “fallen” believers to a higher level of spirituality through example, through prayer, and through sound discipleship. Furthermore, when using God’s Word to correct a sinning believer’s behavior, we must be sure to instruct every sinning believer about the beneficial ways he or she can put God’s Word into practice.
There’s no carnal/fleshly way to accomplish this responsibility, because to reconcile and restore a believer back to a productive spiritual life we must minister to him or her on a spiritual level. This spiritual protocol should be used whenever Christians fall into traps of despair, depression, discouragement, sexual immorality, substance abuse, and so forth.
When churches do not function as a healing community to such people, then the CHURCH’S witness and/or reputation, as a whole Body, is besmirched. We who are spiritual believers, time and time again, are guilty of tainting the CHURCH’S witness and/or reputation when we shirk our duty to help reconcile and restore individuals “overtaken” by sin and/or addictions (temptations). We who are spiritual believers, time and time again, have tainted the CHURCH’S witness and/or reputation when we fail to use all of the Holy Spirit’s resources that God has made available to us. We who are spiritual believers, time and time again, have tainted the CHURCH’S witness and/or reputation when we wound or kill our “fallen” brothers and sisters with our “friendly fire”—our hateful criticisms, unloving correction methods, and exclusive fellowship.
How willing are we to do good works for good works’ sake, as opposed to doing good works because we want our works to be praised by men and women? How willing are we to put our own reputations, lives, and/or personal possessions/money on the line to help anyone who has been labeled as too far-gone to help? AMEN.
“As we have therefore opportunity, let us do go unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10, KJV; cf. John 9:4; 1 Timothy 6:18).