Blessed Assurance- Have you considered that we who believe will be standing before God on Judgment Day in our new bodies?

Believer, see the witness of the Holy Spirit concerning all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 10-

14 "For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are made holy. 15 And the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us, for after saying, 16 “This is the covenant that I will establish with them after those days, says the Lord. I will put My laws on their hearts and I will inscribe them on their minds,” 17 then He says, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no longer.” 18 Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin."

Consider verse 17 above. In Christ, God does not remember our sins. Don’t let anyone deceive you into believing that God has your sin records filed away somewhere and will replay the video of your past sinful life for all to see on Judgment Day before conscripting you to hell that Christ died to save us from according to John 3:16. 

The Rapture will take place before the arrival of Judgment Day when books will be opened. We who believe would have been transformed to our new bodies and caught up in the air to be with our Lord and Master Jesus Christ forever BEFORE Judgment Day comes. Have you considered that we will be standing before God on Judgment Day in our new bodies? Will God now say " Oh, sorry. I need your new body back as your sin records show that you wore wool and linen together just before you were caught up with Christ at the Rapture"? Never! 

Beloved of God, you see those same sins that you struggle with and which false preachers say you should save yourself from or else God will punish you, God Himself sent His own Son to save you from them. Matthew 1:21 says of Him: 

"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

 Titus 2:14 says of Him: "He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

He gave His life to free us from "every kind of sin," including those sins in Revelation 21:8 that many church leaders threaten believers with punishment for-

"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."

Christ suffered and died to save us from them all, transform our walk to a walk of godliness. He gsve Himself for us to save us from perishing and missing out on everlasting life. He came that we might not perish but have everlasting life- John 3:16-17-

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

Beloved of God, there is nothing like a believer in Christ who is not 100% sure about whether he will spend eternity with Christ. Believer, we have a blessed assurance from Christ Himself about whose we are and where we will spend eternity. If you profess Christ and are not sure about where you will spend eternity or whether you are 100% Rapture-ready, check the message that you are hearing. John 3:16 is very clear about those who will not perish but have everlasting life: it is "whoever believes in Him" - whoever believes in Jesus Christ.

Just to be clear, believing in Jesus is not that horrid mixture that is being served up from many pulpits today; it is not that false, satanic "part-Law, part-Grace" doctrine that says- 

"Now that you are saved by Grace, you have to do your best to live a godly life, remain sinless and obey the Law, not for justification but as a guiding principle for morality so that God can bless you and so that you won't face His wrath and go to hell."

This horrid mixture that is neither Law nor Grace is the "neither cold nor hot" that Christ speaks of in Revelation 3. This false doctrine is no different from Satan's ministry to Eve when he deceived her into believing that she could be godly (be like God) by human striving at doing something. 

To be saved in Christ (to believe in Jesus) entails confessing Jesus as Lord and believing that God raised Him from the dead. See this in Romans 10-

9 “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

"Salvation" here encompasses being saved from our sins, all earthly ills and death in hell - everything that is not good for us. It is from the Greek word Soteria and it encompasses salvation from sin, all earthly ills which are all a part of the death process, and death.

Understanding “believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead,” is very crucial for all of us:

Christ crucified and Christ raised from the dead is the legal and righteous foundation upon which our sins and the penalty for every insult and every sin that we ever committed or will ever commit against our Maker has been wiped away forever. It is the basis of our right-standing with God. This according to Romans 4:25-

“Who was delivered up because of our offences, and was raised up because of our being declared righteous."

See the TPT: “Jesus was handed over to be crucified for the forgiveness of our sins and was raised back to life to prove that He had made us right with God!”

Christ would not have risen from the dead if our lifetime of sins had not been forgiven and we had not been declared righteous by God. His resurrection is the divine receipt showing that we who believe have been made righteous in the sight of God. It is akin to seeing someone who went to serve a death sentence in an impregnable prison for the crimes of another walking free.

The wages of sin is death and it is appointed for men to die once. No matter how many times you sin, you can only die once. Concerning this “death,” remember Adam did not drop dead physically on the day that his death sentence came into effect. He was alive physically for almost a thousand years - as one day in the sight of God. Death is a process. God told Adam in Genesis 2:

16 “And Jehovah God layeth a charge on the man, saying, `Of every tree of the garden eating thou dost eat; 17 and of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou dost not eat of it, for in the day of thine eating of it -- dying thou dost die.'”

Adam ate of the tree and passed his sin nature and this death to his descendants- Romans 5:17-

“For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ."

Only by receiving God's abundance of Grace and His gift of righteousness to us in Christ do we get to reign over sin and death. But Pharisee-type pastors preach that you should "at least try to be godly (be like God) by keeping the Law" which gives the knowledge of good and evil like the tree of the same name. Believer, Satan's strategy has not changed since Eden. He is still seducing people into trying to do the good thing of attaining godliness (be like God) by human striving. But the end is sin having dominion and death reigning over those who do so, just as it was with Adam and Eve. See the forbidden fruit as a picture of the Law (from which is the knowledge of good and evil) that many are trying to obey in a bid to live a godly life in Romans 7:8-12 (MSG)-

"Don’t you remember how it was? I do, perfectly well. The law code started out as an excellent piece of work. What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of “forbidden fruit” out of it. The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me...."

Galatians 5:4 says: "For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the Law you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's Grace."

Remember Christ came to save us from our sins according to Matthew 1:21? Those who depend on their own human effort  (arm of flesh) at keeping the Law in order to be godly and free from sin even the tiniest bit have been cut off from Christ so no salvation from sins for such- smack where Satan wants everyone to be.

Trying to live a godly life by human effort/will-power aka obeying the Law to be godly seems like the right and decent thing to do, but it leads to death. Just like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the letter (law) kills. Proverbs 14:12 counsels us about this way that seems right to man:

"There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death."

The more you put confidence in your arm of flesh that will fail aka try to save yourself from your sins or get right with God by trying to obey the Law as Satan would like you to, the more sin will strengthen its grip over your life-

"For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under Law but under Grace." Romans 6:14. 

Believer, let's not read this verse backwards. The arm of flesh (human effort at attaining godliness) will fail. The result of our very best efforts at keeping the Law and trying to live a righteous life are like a menstrual rag in God's sight:

"We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight." Isaiah 64:6.

Believer, stop DOING with your useless might/power that false pastors tell you to rely on and start BELIEVING Jesus Christ. He will save you from those sins, addictions and earthly ills that you struggle with. He Himself will transform you and cause you to live right as His word says in Titus 2:14. See God's counsel in Isaiah 30:

God, the Master, The Holy of Israel,

    has this solemn counsel:

“Your salvation requires you to turn back to Me

    and stop your silly efforts to save yourselves.

Your strength will come from settling down

    in complete dependence on Me—

The very thing

    you’ve been unwilling to do.

You’ve said, ‘Nothing doing! We’ll rush off on horseback!’

    You’ll rush off, all right! Just not far enough!

You’ve said, ‘We’ll ride off on fast horses!’

    Do you think your pursuers ride old nags?

Think again: A thousand of you will scatter before one attacker.

    Before a mere five you’ll all run off.

There’ll be nothing left of you—

    a flagpole on a hill with no flag,

    a signpost on a roadside with the sign torn off.”

18 But God’s not finished. He’s waiting around to be gracious to you.

    He’s gathering strength to show mercy to you.

God takes the time to do everything right—everything.

    Those who wait around for Him are the lucky ones.

19-22 Oh yes, people of Zion, citizens of Jerusalem, your time of tears is over. Cry for help and you’ll find it’s grace and more grace. The moment He hears, he’ll answer."

Believer, by Grace, let's not rush off on our fast horses of human effort at attaining righteousness/godliness. We are saved and kept in and by Grace who is Christ Himself. GRACE all the way. God Himself provided the Way for us to be godly and it has got nothing to do with human effort at obedience. It is as prophesied of Christ's suffering for us in Isaiah 53. See the result of His decease which He accomplished for us in Isaiah 53:11-

"After He has suffered, He will see the light of life. And He will be satisfied. My godly servant will make many people godly because of what He will accomplish. He will be punished for their sins."

Beloved of God, Christ suffered and died to make us godly (be like God.) Remember God created Adam and Eve in His likeness-

26 "Then God said, “Let us make human beings so that they are like us. Let them rule over the fish in the seas and the birds in the sky. Let them rule over the livestock and all the wild animals. And let them rule over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

27 So God created human beings in his own likeness.

    He created them to be like himself.

    He created them as male and female."

Adam and Eve were already "like God," but Satan deceived them into believing that they were not "like God" and that they could be godly through their human striving at eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The Law gives this same knowledge.

Beloved of God, you for whom Christ suffered and died to make godly (like God,) today, you have the same choice that Adam and Eve did- Life and Godliness through utter trust and dependence on Jesus Christ the Tree of Life/Bread of Life who is Grace-personified OR Death through the Law. Just like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the letter (law) kills, no matter how little of it one eats.

By Grace, choose Life. 

I let many things slide with my kids for many reasons, but in Christ, God did not forgive our sins because we are cute and cuddly or because He knows that we are sorry. He HAS to punish EVERY sin. Even we would be appalled if an earthly judge let offenders go free. God's righteousness demands that every sin be punished and the wages of sin is death; a death that He gave His own Son to die for us because He loved us so. 

We are forgiven and made righteous on a righteous foundation - Jesus Christ who had no sins of His own to die for. He died for ours. Our acquittal from judgment is not based on our own obedience but on the obedience of Christ. God will not punish the same sin twice. Christ overpaid the wages of our sin. God is righteous in saving the sinner who puts his faith in Jesus Christ. See Romans 3:26-28:

“...and He makes sinners right in His sight when they believe in Jesus. 27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.”

Believe Right and you will Live Right.