THE TRUE VINE AND THE BRANCHES
The Gospel of Salvation: Part 1
The story of Adam and Eve is a basic Bible story and is
probably known by most everyone. The
simplistic plot is Eve was deceived by a Nachash (a glowing, winged,
serpent-type entity) and convinced to disobey the command of God then afterward
Adam followed suit. According to Paul,
this disobedient act instituted the “law of sin and death.” Sin and corruption entered Creation and the
human race and everyone inherited this propensity. See The
Nachash in the Garden of Eden for more information.
For the law of the life-giving
Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2 NET)
After some investigation, I discovered there is not an
actual written law of sin and death. It
is a Biblical principle validated in many places throughout Scripture as
described in Wuest’s Word Studies.
Kenneth Wuest: The law here
is not a written law but a regulative principle which exercises a control over
the life of the believer. This regulative control over his life is exercised by
the Holy Spirit. This control is in the form of the energy given the believer
both to desire and to do God’s will, this energy coming from the life that God
is, which in the believer is given him by reason of his position in Christ
Jesus.
The Ransom
Jesus gave His life as a ransom. Through the ransom, the Son of God paid the
price of sin resulting in death owed by all and set people free from the law of
sin and death, but there is a catch – we must confess our sins, repent, and
follow Jesus into the Kingdom. One must
desire to be set free and become a willing subject of the King (or a citizen of
the Kingdom). It is not an automatic
endeavor.
For even the Son of Man did not
come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for
many." (Mark 10:45 NET)
For there is one God and one
intermediary between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave
himself as a ransom for all,
revealing God's purpose at his appointed time. (1 Timothy 2:5-6 NET)
The sacrifice of the Lamb of God not only cleared one’s
debt ledger but it also cleanses us from all confessed and repented sin.
But if we walk in the light as
he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood
of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we do not bear the guilt of
sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess
our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us
from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:7-9
NET)
The Kingdom
The Gospel According to Jesus: Unwrapping Centuries of Confusion by Marc
Carrier Yet today, the gospel that
is preached concerns only Jesus’ substitutionary death for our sins—rarely
about His Kingdom. As a result, many evangelicals don’t even know what the
Kingdom of God is.
Contrary to popular opinion, salvation is not achieved by
believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, even demons know that fact. That fact is important, but it is not the
Gospel of salvation.
You believe that God is one;
well and good. Even the demons believe that — and tremble with fear. (James 2:19 NET)
It is also not by merely asking Jesus into one’s heart
during an altar call and then go home to watch TV and drink a 12-pack. The salvation Gospel is to repent and follow
the commandments of Jesus Christ (the will of the Father). In other words, become a citizen or subject
of the Kingdom of God.
"Not everyone who says to
me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the kingdom of heaven — only the one who does
the will of my Father in heaven. (Matthew
7:21 NET)
The first message of John the Baptist was, "Repent,
for the kingdom of heaven is near" (Matthew 3:2). The Gospel of Jesus was and is the Kingdom of
God or the Kingdom of Heaven, depending on the Gospel writer. In the KJV, the Kingdom of God is stated 79
times and the Kingdom of Heaven has 33 instances, mostly in the Gospel of
Matthew. The death and resurrection of
Jesus Christ is very important as the ultimate sacrifice for sin and for the atonement
of human beings to satisfy God’s requirement for justice, but to qualify for
salvation, one must follow the life of Jesus and enter into the Kingdom of God.
ATONEMENT: 1. Amends or
reparation made for an injury or wrong; expiation. 2. An individual's
reconciliation with God by means of repentance and confession of one's
transgressions. 3. The reconciliation of God and humans brought about by the
redemptive life and death of Jesus.
God has provided a way for
humankind to come back into harmonious relation with him,
The purpose of the atonement is
this: to restore our hearts back to God in true repentance, turning away from
sin and towards holiness and righteousness. Our salvation is as sure as our
changed heart.
Is the Kingdom of God (or Heaven) something that will
occur at the return of Jesus as some claim and preach? Is it not present today? If it is present, is it only a spiritual
kingdom? The Kingdom of God has a king
and he sits in heaven at the right hand of God the Father. The king is always present to the citizen through
the Spirit of God or the Holy Spirit. It
is generally understood the king will be physically present on earth during the
Millennium. Would it matter if He were
present today? To some, yes, to many others,
probably not. At the end of the
Millennium, Satan is released for a short period and he deceives the nations
for a battle against God. The number of
the warriors is listed as the grains of the sand in the sea (a large amount).
Revelation 20:7-9 NET Now when the thousand years are finished,
Satan will be released from his prison (8) and will go out to deceive the nations at the
four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to bring them together for the
battle. They are as numerous as the grains of sand in the sea. (9)
They went up on the broad plain of the earth and encircled the camp of
the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and devoured
them completely.
Many people will not honor the Kingdom of God even if the
King is present.
For Kingdom of God information, go to: The
Kingdom of God , The
Kingdom of God: Lost by Adam and Eve , The
Kingdom of God , Visualizations
of The Kingdom of God , A
Parable of the Kingdom of God , The
Commandments of the Kingdom of God , The
Gospel of Mark and the Kingdom of God
The True Vine
John 15:1-5 NET "I am the true vine and my Father is the
gardener. (2) He takes away every branch that does not bear
fruit in me. He prunes every branch that bears fruit so that it will bear more
fruit. (3) You are clean already because of the word
that I have spoken to you. (4) Remain in me, and I will remain in you. Just
as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains in the vine, so
neither can you unless you remain in me.
(5) "I am the vine; you are
the branches. The one who remains in me — and I in him — bears much fruit,
because apart from me you can accomplish nothing.
Jesus is the true vine and God the Father is the
gardener. The Father removes (takes
away) all non-fruit bearing branches.
The branches that remain are pruned (literally means cleansed) so they will produce even more
fruit. The pruning maximizes fruit
bearing, exposes counterfeits, and maintains the citizen’s dependence on God. The branch must remain in the vine (Jesus and
the Kingdom) to bear fruit. Those apart
from Jesus and the Kingdom can accomplish nothing. Remain (follow) Jesus and He will remain in
you (salvation). True salvation is both
an initial and a continuous response. This theological truth is often ignored
in our enthusiasm for personal assurance of salvation. Fruit bearing (and salvation) requires always
being a part of the Lord.
Those claiming to be Christian but do not follow the
commandments of Jesus as a member of the Kingdom of God will be thrown out and
become a piece of dry wood. At the
return of the Messiah, those dried branches will be gathered and burned (thrown
into the fire), a parallel to the parable of the wheat and tares.
If anyone does not remain in me,
he is thrown out like a branch, and dries up; and such branches are gathered up
and thrown into the fire, and are burned up. (John 15:6 NET)
Every tree that does not bear
good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
(Matthew 7:19 NET)
The Gospel
According to Jesus: Unwrapping Centuries of Confusion by Marc Carrier. Our invitation to the Vine comes by grace
through faith, in repentance and baptism. We remain on the Vine by abiding in
Christ. Abiding in Christ is maintaining our obedient love relationship with
Him (see John 15:10 below and John 14:15 and 21). There can be some level of
obedience without love, but there is no love without obedience. And without
such fruit, the branches will be cut off and thrown into the fire
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