God inspires me to write
of this topic. I pray for wisdom to deliver this message clearly
and correctly in His name, Jehovah through his son Jesus.
What is Salvation?
What is Damnation? A common belief is to equate Salvation with
going to Heaven upon death, whereas Damnation is going to Hell upon
death.
There is no instantaneous
transformation at death to Heaven or Hell, yet we each receive Salvation,
Damnation or a final chance to choose. Each person can experience
two deaths, or one. The choice being their own. Ponder the following
excerpts from Ecclesiastes.
Ecclesiastes 9:5 -
For the living know that they will die, but the dead know
nothing, and they have no more reward; but the
memory of them is lost.
Ecclesiastes 9:10- Whatever
your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work
or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.
This means that
a "physical" death does not include "soul" transference to Heaven or
Hell. The "dead know nothing". If one were dead and in Heaven,
wouldn't one "know something"? Sheol is an ancient Hebrew word
meaning "land of the dead"; again there is nothing done there. Dead
is dead is dead. The following verse adds more.
John 3:13
"No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven,
the Son of man"
Jesus tells us that
no one has ever gone to heaven, but Jesus himself. Does that mean
that everyone who proceeded him was unworthy? Read the following
verses to discover more about the two types of death.
Luke
9:59-60 59 To another he said, "Follow
me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."
60 But
he said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for
you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
How can the dead
do anything if the "dead know nothing"? Here Yeshua tells us that
the "spiritually" dead will bury the "physically" dead. Whereas
the "spiritually" living, will "go forth and proclaim the kingdom of
Jehovah". Interesting?
Turning back to
the question of Salvation. How does one acquire this? Is it possible
to reject it? Can we wait to make a choice?
John 3:15 - 2115
that whoever believes in him may have eternal life."
16 For God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not
perish but have eternal life. 17
For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but
that the world might be saved through him.
18 He who believes in him is not condemned; he
who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed
in the name of the only Son of God. 19
And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world,
and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were
evil. 20 For every one who
does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest
his deeds should be exposed. 21
But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be
clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God.
-
How does
one come to Salvation? The above passage makes it
clear. Believe in Jesus, or accept God's sacrifice of
His Son to wash away our sins.
-
Is it
possible to reject Salvation, choosing Damnation? Yes, again
in the latter part of verse 18 we see that simply by rejecting
the gift, we can be Damned.
-
Can we
wait to make a choice? Of course we can wait.
However, throughout the Bible we are warned that waiting is
not a good choice. The question of course is, why would you
wait, if there is a chance of it ever being too late. Review
Ecclesiastes for more information.
Ecclesiastes 9:11-12
11 Again I saw that under
the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong,
nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor
to the men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all.
12 For man does not know his
time. Like fish which are taken in an evil net, and like birds which
are caught in a snare, so the sons of men are snared at an evil
time, when it suddenly falls upon them.
Take note of
"11
...time and chance happen to them
all.
12 For man does not know his time..."
We don't know our time of death. If we know of the gift freely
available and haven't made the conscious acceptance of Jesus' sacrifice
at our physical death, we have then consciously rejected it, accepting
Damnation as our reward. Do I know this for sure? No, only
God knows what is in your heart. I will not nor can not pass judgment
on you. Judgment is the sole province of Jehovah God.
We still haven't
answered the question though, what is Salvation? We've seen there
are two types of death. Physical and spiritual. We all,
saints and sinners alike, can expect a physical death. It is Salvation
which keeps us from ever knowing a spiritual death.
Which do you choose?
Amen
By Rev. Matthew Gerrior
November 19, 2002
Bible (Revised Standard Version) ¨Old Covenant
¨Book of Ecclesiastes
Bible (Revised Standard Version) ¨New Covenant ¨Book of Luke
Bible (Revised Standard Version) ¨New Covenant ¨Book of John