Adios Bubba!

I felt a bit tired and also a bit stressed when i walk through the gate of my house. It was a chilly late evening. The house sounded a bit deserted. No particular noise around me. I should have known that something was amiss. It was too quite. I effortlessly moved my leg across the stairs and went into the house. My dad was working on his computer. My young brother Steve was doing some autodidact work on 3-D animation with his unfinished meal plate by his side. Nothing was particularly unusual but i still felt the growing silence in the house as still unsettling.

I went through the usual evening routine, I took my evening supper, and then gathered the meat and chicken bones that i couldn't eat to my plate then I spoke to my young brother:

"Don't forget to give your bones to Bubba".

That is all i needed to say to finally realize what was wrong with all this picture. Steve looked at me with quite a sadden face, and injected me the poisonous information:

"There is no more Bubba. Bubba is dead!"

I just felt the hurt for a split second, and i re-organized my emotion that was still vacillating and my brain which was still trying to process the information. "What?" i thought to myself. How can she die just like that. No matter how i turned it in my head, it was clear my dog was dead. Even though she was an old dog, part of her death was the fault of a Veterinary that was brought home to assess and cure her of a particular ailment she contracted sometime this year. Sniff, anyway - she is gone!

We have had quite a long history with Bubba. She came to our lives in the year 2000-2001. Steve wasn't even a teenager then, and now he is past his teenage-hood years. Of all of us, he is certainly the one who must be feeling the big emptiness of its death. As for me, my dog has always been my faithful and loyal companion. Even though she never prayed, she almost was by my side during my frequent solitary time of outdoor prayers.

She used to wag her tail observing me curiously as i prayed. Sometime, when the night was pitch black, just knowing and sensing her presence by my side gave me some form of comfort to stay out of the house for long hours, as i sat, on my veranda, thinking and gazing at the emptiness above me made of a starless sky and a moonless night.

It is just sad as i now realize that i have also lost a long time friend so to speak, a silent partner and an always loyal companion who never expressed verbal judgement.

I have to also admit that not everybody will share my feelings here. Especially the countless people who have been brutalized by her for trespassing on our private propriety. I can only shake my head in disbelief and smile as i remember all the amusing scenes of people running around with Bubba at their trails or the sometime bizarre stories such as a run away thief who was jumping through walls, going house to house. He got rescued by the police that were chasing after him when he landed in our private land. I was told that never before did a thief felt so happy to see the police arrive. The house got woke up by the odious screams that was emanating from the garden. I guess that is when the police knew on which gate they should go to exercise their protective skills.

Oh, so much funny, good and Happy memories with Bubba. I can't tell them all.

Anyway, this is the circle of life! Adios Bubba!

Laying On of Hands (Doctrine)

I had the pleasure to give a series of teachings at the Living Word Association few months ago. One of them concerned the doctrine of Laying on of hands as found in the book of Hebrews 6:2. 

"Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment." Heb 6:2.

It was quite a memorable and privileged experience i was granted. Although i can't share everything that i shared during the teaching weeks; i wanted at least to share the biblical texts i used during my commentaries at the event. I hope you will find it equally interesting and relevant to your spiritual experience as a 21st Century Christian.    

         THE USE OF THE LAYING ON OF HANDS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

1) Laying on of Hands to impart blessings:

  “And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it on Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left on Manasseh's head, crossing his hands. For Manasseh was the first-born. And he blessed Joseph and said,” - Genesis 48:14 (cfr. Gen27:27)

N.B: In this text, the hands of the patriarch was laid on the heads of Ephraim and Manasseh. It was done with the intent to transfer some form of blessings to the family of Joseph.

2) To Impart Authority

a) “And Jehovah said to Moses, Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand upon him. And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation, and give him a charge in their sight. And you shall put of your honor on him, so that all the congregation of the sons of Israel may be obedient.” Number 27:18-20

b) “And Moses did as Jehovah commanded him. And he took Joshua and set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation. And he laid his hands upon him and gave him a charge, even as Jehovah commanded by the hand of Moses.” Num 27:22-23

c) “Now Nun's son Joshua was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had placed his hands on him, so Israelis listened to him and did what the LORD had commanded Moses.” Deuteronomy 34:9 ISV

N.B: Moses’ action with his hands brought a ‘new spirit’ in Joshua’s life – the spirit of wisdom. Joshua also received charge of the nation (authority) through the laying on of hands of Moses.

3) Transferring sins by the laying on of hands:

  “Aaron is to lay his two hands upon the head of the male goat and confess over it the sins of Israel, all their transgressions, and all their sins, thus placing them on the head of the male goat that he'll then send out to the wilderness by the hand of a man capable of carrying out this task.” Leviticus 16:21

4) Military victory associated with the laying on of hands:

“Then Elisha told Israel's king, "Draw the bow!" As he did so, Elisha laid his hands on top of the king's hands and ordered him, ‘Open a window that faces east.’ So he did so. Elisha ordered him, ‘Shoot!’ So he shot. Then Elisha said, ‘This is the LORD's arrow of victory—the victory arrow against Aram, because you will defeat the Arameans at Aphek until you will have utterly finished them off.’” - 2King 13:16-17 ISV

N.B: In this case, the laying on of hands was put on the hand of the king and not on his head.

                       USE OF LAYING ON OF HANDS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

1)      Laying on of hands associated with healing:

            “In my name … They will lay hands on the sick, and they will be well.” Mark 16:17-18

It is also possible that James 5:14-15 could assume such a practice of hand laying during the anointing of the sick:

            “Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will cure the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up. And if he has committed sins, it will be forgiven him.”

2) Imparting the Holy Spirit with hand ‘s laying:

a)      “And when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money,” Act 8:18

b)      “And Ananias went and entered into the house. And putting his hands on him, he said, Brother Saul, the Lord, Jesus, who appeared to you in the way in which you came, has sent me to you that you might see and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Act 9:17

c)       “And hearing, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And as Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.” Act 19:5

We have 5 accounts where the Holy Spirit comes upon people in the Book of Acts. And in three of them, it occurs via the laying on of hands:

a)       Acts 2 at Pentecost; b) Acts 8 the new converts in Samaria; c) Acts 9 Saul of tarsus; d) Acts10 at Cornelius household; e) Acts 19 the disciples at Ephesus.

                     WHAT ABOUT THE SIGN OF THE HOLY SPIRIT RECEPTION?

Now we need to be honest about this.  On the 5 accounts of the event, 3 of them report the manifestation of what Paul referred to as spiritual gifts:

Without laying on of hands:

1. At Pentecost – speaking in other tongues and were filled

“And they were all filled of the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Act 2:4

2. At Cornelius house – spoke with tongues and praised

“For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered,” Act 10:46

With Laying on of hands:

3. At Ephesus – spoke with tongues and prophesized

“And as Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.” Act 19:6

4. At Saul’s conversion – filled with the Spirit

“And putting his hands on him, he said, Brother Saul, the Lord, Jesus, who appeared to you in the way in which you came, has sent me to you that you might see and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Acts9:17 (cfr Act 4:8 – Peter/Act9:20 - Paul)

5. At Samaria -  Simon saw something happening (unknown)

“And when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money,” Act 8:18

                                           SO HOW DOES IT WORK THEN?

A) Learning from Moses: What happens when the spirit was imparted?

“And Jehovah said to Moses, Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel … And I will come down and ... And I will take of the spirit on you, and will put it on them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you so that you do not bear it yourself alone.” Number 11:16-17

“And Jehovah came down in a cloud and spoke to him, and took of the spirit on him and gave it to the seventy elders. And it happened when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they never did so again. But two of the men stayed in the camp; the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other was Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. And they were of those who were written, but did not go out to the tabernacle. And they prophesied in the camp.” Num 11:25-26

B) Learning from Moses again: What happens when the spirit is imparted?

            “And Moses did as Jehovah commanded him. And he took Joshua and set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation. And he laid his hands upon him and gave him a charge, even as Jehovah commanded by the hand of Moses.” Number 27:22-23

A)    It is interesting to notice that during the ordination of the 70 elders, when  God imparted the spirit, they prophesied. It happened only once. They never prophesied again the sacred text insist (Number 11:25).  There was a visible sign that something was being received. And that visible thing was ‘prophecy.’

B)     However, when the same ordination happened to Joshua, nothing physical was reported. However, in the course of the days, it was realized that Joshua had indeed received something during the laying on of hand ceremony. The spirit of wisdom manifested itself with time in the life of Joshua.

N.B: my conclusion simply stated is, something will definitively happen in the life of someone who has received a grace during a divine "transfer". Either directly or afterward. I believe this conclusion is warranted by the scripture as presented above. And i also believe that just like in the Old Testament text above, some people may well experience prophecy or even the speaking in foreign languages, without making this experience a definitive experience. It may well be just like the experience received with the elders in Number 11:25. They may express spiritual gifts at that particular moment and never be able to replicate that experience in the same manner. This might explain why some modern people claim to have had received a mystical experience during the laying on of hands or the baptism of the holy spirit (will be discussed on another post), and subsequently being incapable of expressing those momentary experiences afterward. This should not be regarded as abnormal. It also happened to the elders in Number 11:25 "(...) the elders; and it came to pass, that when the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not repeat it ." Darby. 

LAYING ON OF HANDS IN THE EPISTLES

1) Laying on of hands connected with spiritual danger and spirituality

“Do not lay hands quickly on anyone, neither be partaker of the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.” 1Timothy 5:22

N.B: Paul is discussing the office of elders in this particular chapter, probably the appointment of a leader. It seems that Paul might well be referring to some form of association between the one who lay hands and the one receiving the impartation. Paul is concerned that by appointing the wrong people, we may very well carry some form of responsibility for the outrage that that person may wreck during his tenure as a spiritual leader. ‘Laying hands’ is more than just a religious ceremony. It may become an act of association.

2) Imparting Spiritual Gifts

 “For I long to see you, so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, to you for the establishing of you. And this is to be comforted together with you by our mutual faith, both yours and mine.” Romans 1:11-12

We learn few facts: a) Paul is the imparter; b) The nature of the impartation is the spiritual gift; c) the purpose of the impartation is the strengthening of faith.

“I want very much to see you and give you some spiritual gift to make your faith stronger. I mean that I want us to help each other with the faith that we have. Your faith will help me, and my faith will help you.” ERV

3) The Time frame of Gifts

“so that you do not lack in any spiritual gift as you eagerly await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,” 1Corinthians 1:7 LEB

The gift is supposed to be operational until Christ comes. Hence the ministry of imparting gift as in Romans1:11 will remain of actuality until Christ appears.

4) How does Impartation of Gift works: Story of Timothy

“Do not neglect the gift that is in you, that was granted to you through prophecy with the laying on of hands by the council of elders.” 1Timothy 4:14

“for which reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands.” 2Timothy 1:6

It seems from these two complementary sources that the gifts that Timothy received came via the medium of the laying on of hands of the elders included Paul.

5) The usefulness of gift: Timothy again!!

“This charge I commit to you, my son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before about you, in order that you might war a good warfare by them,” 1Timothy 1:18

This verse above help complete the picture painted in 1Tim4:14, when prophecy was given with laying on of hands. The assumption is that what we receive with laying on of hands helps us fight the good fight with the virulent spiritual adversaries (Ephesians 6:12).

Other New Testament witness on the laying on of hands:

•       “Therefore they stayed a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who bore witness to the word of His grace, giving miracles and wonders to be done by their hands.” Act 14:3

•       “As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, So, then, separate Barnabas and Saul to Me for the work to which I have called them. Then having fasted and prayed and laid hands on them, they let them go.” Act 13:2

•       “And it happened the father of Publius was lying down, suffering fevers and dysentery; to whom Paul entered in, and praying and laying on his hands, he healed him.” Act 28:8

•       My daughter has just now died. But come and lay Your hand on her and she will live ... He went in and took her by the hand, and the little girl arose.  Mat 9:18,25

•       “And stretching out the hand, He touched him, saying, I will! Be clean! And immediately the leprosy departed from him.” Luke 5:13

•       “And when Jesus had come into Peter's house, He saw his wife's mother laid out and in a fever. And He touched her hand, and the fever left her. And she arose and served them.” Mat 8:14-15 

•       “And taking them up in His arms, He put His hands on them and blessed them.” Mark 10:16

RESOURCES:

•       The Bible (Modern King James Version, ASV, ISV)

•       Foundations for Righteous Living – Derek Prince

•       The Original Catholic Encyclopedia: http://oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=Confirmation

•       Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laying_of_hands

GRAVITY - The Movie

Two weeks ago, with my date (Lisette) we went to see the so much advertised movie, Gravity. It was with pleasure that we entered the Kigali Century Cinema on the look out for that specific movie experience. It just happened that Sandra Bullock is one of my favorite female actress. And George Cloney one of Lisette most charming male actor. So our expectation was rather high. Unfortunately we encountered two specific hurdle:

1) We arrived 5 minutes after the movie had started. But we were able to catch up on the story line quite easily. 2) The 3-D cinema hall was down! So we missed the absolutely beautiful cinematographic experience we were all expecting! Watching Gravity on 2-D just makes you wonder how much more amazing the experience could have been on 3-D.

Despite these hurdles, we pretty much enjoyed the movie. The story line was quite appealing. Here is a PhD scientist - Ryan (Sandra Bullock) - who had suffered a deep tragedy on earth. This single tragedy made her a solitary woman. And space, provided her the comfort of being alone. She had lost her personal gravity that linked her to other human being. And this is what makes the movie quite interesting. Due to a series of unfortunate events in space, all the astronauts either lost their lives or lost their footing and got lost into space. The only option to survive is to find a way to go back to earth. Ryan had nothing to go back to on earth, but her desire to survive made her want to go back to earth more than anything. It is as if she started to find back her own gravity that would make her connect with the society she had rejected because of her personal grief.

I enjoyed the movie. I believe i would have enjoyed it even more, if the 3D room was not out of service.

The Eternal Fate Of Old Testament Saints

Through a facebook conversation with Mr. J., a series of questions were asked and they were essentially related to the person of Abraham. But when we think well about it, it is clear that this particular question was not only aiming Abraham, but rather all the Saints of the Old Testament. In order to make it brief and relevant to the reader, i will be quoting the reaction of Mr. J. and my comment will follow below it. I will split it in two sections.

Section I. Were Saints of the old covenant saved?

Question: "Was abraham saved?" here i mean eternal salvation from hell"I) Do you remember the Story of Father Abraham, the evil rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16? Jesus gave the story as an information that Lazarus was not in a place of torment (he was in a place that was opposite to hell) unlike the evil rich man (who was in a hell-lie-place). And that place of bliss where Lazarus was, it was a place where Abraham also was. Matter of fact, the Bible even call that paradise-like-place the 'Bosom of Abraham' in verse 22. Another interesting aspect of that story told by Jesus, to reach 'Abraham's bosom', you need to be escorted by Angels.

"And it happened that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich one also died and was buried." Luke 16:22 MKJV

"And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom." - Luke 16:23 - MKJV

II) Do you remember that when Jesus wanted to speak about the Resurrection of the righteous dead, He spoke positively of Abraham by informing his listeners that God is not ashamed to call himself the God of Abraham? If Abraham eternity was at that point unsafe or non eligible to eternal bliss, would we really think that he would call himself the God of Abraham?

" But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken to you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." Mat 22:31-32 MKJV

Question: "Abraham didn't believe in Christ as his savior to the best of my knowledge" [how can he be saved?]

When i first read this comment of yours, one particular verse leaped in my head. I hesitated to use it in my former comments, but i sense it would be important that i make a short comment on this too. I recommend you read these 3 passages: 2 Peter 1:19-21, Hebrews 11:13-40 and 1 Peter 1:11-12.

Below i will only quote one of the two for the sake of the place. Those who came before Christ, even though they didn't see Christ, they nevertheless knew about Christ and in a positive way. How do we know that? Simply because they prophesied about the coming of the Messiah. And more importantly, they prophesied by the guidance and inspiration of the Spirit of Christ himself. We are in no position to judge them, for we do not know the kind of relationship they had with the Spirit of Christ. And Abraham being a prophet of the Old Covenant certainly had his encounter with the Spirit of Christ judging by 2 passages i shared. And the one of Hebrew clearly recognize them as believers who are going to the "heavenly City" in verse 16 of Hebrews 11.

Now, let's look at one of the passages:

"The Spirit of Christ was in those prophets. And the Spirit was telling about the sufferings that would happen to Christ and about the glory that would come after those sufferings. The prophets tried to learn about what the Spirit was showing them--when it would happen and what the world would be like at that time. It was made clear to them that their service was not for themselves. They were serving you when they told about the things you have now heard. You heard them from those who told you the Good News with the help of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even the angels would like very much to know more about these things you were told." 1 Peter 1:11-12 ERV 

Section II. How could people from the Old Covenant be saved before the death of Christ?

Your questions are crystal clear and the concerns are valid. So let me answer both questions on the order of appearance. It is not easy to explain with my weak words, but i will do my best by the grace of God to explain it as I have come to understand it over my years of Christian service.

I/ The Time Factor of Christ sacrifice:

a. "It takes effect on us when we believe because we believe what truly happened!!;"

Allow me to make an adjustment on your concept of belief here. We do not only believe in something that HAS HAPPENED in order for a belief to be valid. People also believe in things that WILL HAPPEN. Simple example, we believe in the return of Christ and the resurrection of the dead, even though these event are future events. You can see more on that from the texts i already shared yesterday - particularly Hebrews 11:13-16 on how the ancient folks believed and had faith about the future events.

b. " How can Christ's death take effect on those who believe in it prior to it's occurrence?"

There is two way that i know to answer this. I'll present the first one here, and the other one on point c. 

Do you remember the Jesus stories that happened in Capernaum?

Example 1: Healing

"And when the evening was come, they brought to him [Jesus] many possessed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all that were ill; so that that should be fulfilled which was spoken through Esaiah the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities and bore our diseases." Matthew 8:16 -17

Isn't it strange that Matthew is quoting Isaiah 53:4 which speaks of the suffering of the Messiah on the cross while Jesus was still ministering healing before the cross? Peter actually interpret the Isaiah 53:4 text as fulfilled by Jesus on the cross in 1 Peter 2:24.

"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree*, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed." 1Peter 2:24    And many bible students interpret it like Peter did. So if Jesus flesh wounds (stripes) happened on the cross (on the tree), and it is only when those stripes were marked on him that He bore our infirmities and diseases, how come Matthew 8:17 says that people where being healed at Capernaum because Jesus bore their infirmity and this was said before the cross? And the healing was still experienced by people nevertheless. This is quite perplexing hein?

N.B: The tree* is another way the Bible refers to the Cross. See Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29 and Galatians 3:13

Example 2: Forgiveness

" But Jesus, seeing their faith, says to the paralytic, Child, thy sins are forgiven thee ... Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, Thy sins are forgiven thee ; or to say, Arise, and take up thy couch and walk?" Mar 2:5, 9.

Isn't it quite a surprise that Jesus was able to grant forgiveness of sins as a Son of Man, even before that the Son of Man had shed his blood? After all, are we not told this about how forgiveness works in Hebrews 9:22, 

"In fact, under the Law almost everything is cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of the blood there is no forgiveness."

Jesus blood was not yet shed when he forgave that crippled man at Capernaum, but He still granted him forgiveness to the great shock of the scribes.

c. " I mean How can the Blood which is not poured out yet cleanse the sin effect of those who believe in such a sacrifice before the sacrifice is actually slain?"

This is a good question. But our bedazzlement about the reality of this phenomenon does not change anything to the fact that it had happened (see point b.). 

Hebrews give us a possible explanation on how that could have been possible. How does the death of a man 2000 years ago affect me 2000 years later (i.e today)? or how does it affect other patriarchs a 1000 years to 3000 years before the fact? 

The author of Hebrew says that it is because Jesus sacrifices was not bound by time. Its effect was not a temporal effect. It had an eternal effect. Eternity seems to include all times (past, present and future). I am tempted to even say that Eternity is 'atemporal' but that would be difficult to justify. So let me just use the word 'time inclusive'. Jesus made his sacrifice through the eternal Spirit: or the time inclusive Spirit. The word for 'eternal' in this text is 'aionios' which means perpetual. 

Here is how the eSword Strong Hebrew and Greek dictionary puts it: aionios - perpetual, (also used of past time, past and future as well).

"How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" Hebrews 9:14. 

Jesus' blood shed 2000 years ago has effect on people of all time. We know how it works on us who came after the fact of the sacrifice (1John1:9) but we are not privy on how God applied it to people of generation before the fact. However we know that God made sure that the effect would impact people beyond the time in which Jesus was offering that sacrifices, hence the sacrifice was made through the eternal Spirit - the 'aionios' Spirit.

I also need to emphasize on a very needed nuance here. You said those "who believe in such a sacrifice before the sacrifice is actually slain?" However, in biblical Soteriology you would be partly right by saying that the sacrifice was not yet slain. Why? because in biblical soteriology, the lamb could also be regarded as already slain before the foundation of the world (cfr also 1 Peter1:19-20). Tricky hein?!

"All those living on earth will worship it, everyone whose name is not written in the Book of Life belonging to the lamb that was slaughtered from the foundation of the world." Revelation 13:8 ISV. 

However the most important thing here is how a sacrifice 2000 years ago impact us all at different space-time frame? The answer even though mysterious is biblilcally sound - it is because Jesus offered himself through an ETERNAL SPIRIT. That is why people could be forgiven before the blood shedding of the cross nd people could be healed before the stripes became actualized on his body.

Because God's will is that all man may be saved, he could have ordered perpetual sacrifices of his son since the foundation of the world. But God being God, has preferred to make it once while affecting all, and by doing it once He has made it available to people of all time since the creation of the World. He did that by making his son be sacrificed once for all through an eternal Spirit so that this process would not have to be repeated since the creation of the world up to Calvary (Galatians 4:4) or today. By doing it through the ETERNAL Spirit, Jesus has made his sacrificial benefits of eternal value for all. He obtained for humanity what the author of Hebrew called the "Eternal Redemption". His redemption was for all times. His blood did not need to be shed each year or in each generation in order to obtain for them too a redemption.

Let me end with another remarks from the author of Hebrews:

"Then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the creation of the world. But now, at the end of the ages, he has appeared once for all to remove sin by his sacrifice." Hebrews 9:26. 

He did it once and obtained a collective redemption for all people of all time (Eternal).

"nor by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered once for all into the Holies, having obtained eternal redemption for us." Hebrews 9:12

II/ " Why couldn't we be saved the way they were saved coz it wouldn't put Christ in such much trouble for our salvation"

They were not saved differently than we were saved. We are all saved through Jesus. The difference is that we did not all encounter him the same way. We have encountered and experience Christ in different way through out the human history timeline. But his sacrifice included them, it had eternal value for it was offered through an 'ETERNAL SPIRIT' confer point II/ c. above.

As it is written, God's judgement standard is always His son Jesus. How he will proceed in doing it, that remains a mystery. But the standard for us all is still Jesus regardless of time in history.

"because he has set a day when He is going to judge the world with justice through a man whom He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead." Act 17:31 

So Jesus needed to die in order that his sacrifice benefit may reached those of the past and those of the future. As you remarked, it wasn't easy and it was painful, but it had to be done since people were already using "in credit" the benefit of his sacrifice if i can put it this way. Someone had to pay for all the forgiveness offered freely before and all the healing made before the time - and Jesus was that someone. There was no going back. He had to die for us all in order that the opportunity to have life and life in abundance be given to all of us (John 3:16).
The Bible through the mouth of our Lord and Savior Jesus was unambiguous about the Eternal Fate of Abraham, and for all the other saints of old for that matter. 

"And I say to you that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of Heaven." Matthew 8:11

Has Jesus Ever Saved His People From Sins?

A question was asked by B. on behalf of his/her friend:

"Since the bible says that 'he will save people from their sins', should we await another savior or should we maintain that Jesus is the one who is the savior despite the obvious fact that sins has not yet disappeared in the lives of people?"

Dear B, this is an interesting question. It seems that it arose from this beautiful verse:

"And she shall bear a son, and you shall call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:21  

The question that your friend is asking is, 'since we still sin or experience sin - isn't it then the proof that we are not yet saved from sin and that we should look for another savior who can save us from sin?'

Fair question. I would try to answer it in two approach.

I/ What does it mean "He shall save His people from their sins"?

The angel Gabriel introduced Jesus mission as 'save his people from their sin'. His people were initially only referring to the Jews (Israel) and subsequently the rest of the world. However the Angel Gabriel didn't explain what he meant by that statement. So in order to avoid off the chart speculation, we can look at other passages of how Jesus is also introduced in he bible and that might help your friend get some form of an answer:

*. "The next day John sees Jesus coming to him and says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" John 1:29

Here John doesn't use the word 'save from their sins' but the statement 'take away the sin'. So it could be reasonably argued that Jesus saved his people from sins, by taking their sins away from them.

Let me use a fictitious example, it is like saying, this Harvard professor will save people from HIV. And if someone else come and said, this Harvard professor has taken away the HIV. We would conclude that they meant the same thing. Since HIV could kill the people, and by taking it away - people who would have died of AIDS (as a result of HIV) would be saved.

Back to our bible. Jesus saved his people (Israel and the rest of us) from their sins by the mechanism of taking away their sins. He took it away from them.

II/ How did Jesus do that? How did He saved his people from their sins and took them away?

There is plenty of scriptures that speaks of that. But for the sake of brevity and clarity, i will touch one which is multiply attested in the Holy Scriptures.

a. "Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." Act 5:31

In this scripture, St. Peter is pointing at Jesus' saving work in two domains: 1) giving repentance to Israel (his people) and 2) giving forgiveness of sins.

It seems that St. Peter saw Jesus saving works through people's repentance and people's forgiveness of sins. This fits well with what St. Gabriel the angle said about the savior's work:

"And she shall bear a son, and you shall call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:21

b. "But that ye may know that the Son of man [Jesus] hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,)" Mark 2:10  

It seems to me that Jesus' way in dealing with sins on earth was to forgive sins, just like Peter commented about Jesus' saviorhood. So forgiving sins, is the way Jesus take away sins. Hence it is the way he saves people from their sins. A savior needs power in order to save. And Jesus's power among other, is His power on earth to forgive sins. That is how he saves people from theirs sins. He saves them by giving them forgiveness of sins.

Jesus used the parallel of forgiving sins and forgiving debts in the Gospel of Mathew. When we forgive financial debts, we take away the debt from the debtor. Hence when sins are forgiven, it means that sins are taken away from the sinner. Exactly the way John the Baptist introduced Jesus' work in John 1:29.

This leads us into the next point!

c. "[God] Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:" Colossians 1:13-14

When we speak of being saved from something, we also mean that we have been delivered from something. And St. Paul coming from a similar angle as St. Gabriel and St. Peter, informed his readers that God has saved them from the power of darkness by the procedure of the forgiveness of sins. Forgiving sins is the way we have been delivered or saved.

Then the normal question comes, if we have been saved of our pass transgression by the blood - so what will happen to my new transgressions and sins? The bible give the same answers. Just like you were saved from all your past sins, you will be saved from all your new sins in the same way, by the forgiveness of those sins.

How does it work? The same way it worked the first time in the believers' life and going back to the first century. The access to the benefit of God's forgiveness is free. All one has to do to benefit of that saving power of the forgiveness of sins is to do what the Apostle John did and encouraged all other believers to do - it is to confess one's sins.

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1John 1:9.

The formula has never changed. It has always been free to all who need forgiveness through the precious blood of Christ, they just have to humble themselves and confess their sins. This is how they are saved from sins or forgiven of their sins.

Hence, beware of people who are discouraging people to confess their sins. For they are standing in between those who need to be saved from their sins and the savior who is saving them of their sins and forgiving them from their sins.

And the answer is no. We do not need to wait for another savior. Jesus is the lamb of God that deliver us from our sins!

UPDATE:

By 'deliver us fro ours sins', I mean believers included. Jesus savior role doesn't stop when we believe. He continues to be our savior. St. Paul recognize as much:

"we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe." - 1Timothy 4:10 ESV

Jesus saving action in saving us from our sins still continues even after our conversion. He still forgive us and cleanse us from any sins and unrighteousness:

"He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." 1John 2:2   

The New Bible Deniers and Good Works (Up-Date)

Biblical Christianity is always under attack from without or from within. For the past 8 years or so, i have been focusing about the critics who came from outside Christianity. I read books they wrote or books that debunked their thesis. It was a fascinating thing to see how atheism could be neutralized and Islamic attacks be muted by experts on the subjects. While I was delving studiously through the attacks coming from outside Christianity, a revolt was forming within our ranks. It was not a reform but a rebellion of everything we considered sacred and orthodox.

It first appeared in a dressed up and inoffensive appearances, using similar biblical statements as the one we were used to read in the Scriptures. However, the emphasis were on the repetitive nagging nuances that made us uncomfortable however we chose to turn a blind eye to it thinking that it was just a mood of the day. It shall pass we thought. But we were wrong. It didn't pass. It became worst.

At first, it seemed to be a kind of revelation to some that we were Children of God. Then time passed, they were no longer satisfied by just being called Children of God. They wanted it to be emphasized. So they turned against the biblical word, 'Servant of God'. After all, why would anyone want to call himself a 'servant of God' if he has the opportunity to be called a 'Child of God'? These were nagging nuances at first. Then the mood became more emphatic. You now had to choose between either being a servant of God or a child of God. You can not be both we were now told. That is when we realized that the sloppy thinking was not simply inoffensive, but dangerous.

We know that the apostles never found it a contradiction to be called both Children of God and Servant of the Lord in their writings. It was not an either this or that. It was rather we are both this and that. Unfortunately this convergent view of both Servanthood and Childhood which are equally emphasized in the New Testament letters was lost to many. They now only wanted their non-biblical view of "either servant of the Lord or children of God" to be the only option on the table.

"But honestly who cares?" I thought to myself. Let them choose whatever they want to believe in about our spiritual identity. We will still serve the Lord while using different terminologies. No big deal. Right?

Wrong! I was wrong. You see, once you start depreciating a biblical truth, or favoring one scriptural revelation over the other, and start loosing a balanced view of the Scriptures, there is no way that you will stop there. It is like a drug. You will keep pushing the boundaries and think the more outrageous you are, the more spiritual you are. So some have started to measure their spirituality on this new metric. Who can bring a more daring beliefs? The more daring they were, the more they thought they were spiritual.

I was wrong to think that 'Servant of God' will be the end of it. Soon other point of views came to life. The denial of the existence of sin. The rejection of the practice of confession of sins once someone sinned. (Why would anyone want to confess if sin doesn't exist in the first place?) Then it was the essential doctrine of repentance that had to be butchered. Now we are told you should never repent from your sins. What about good works? They no longer care about its practice anymore. Actually some even think that doing a good work is totally impossible to Christians. And many-many and many more anomalous doctrines just started to spring forth. It was like witnessing a Championship in a Heretical competition. "Who will do better than me in distorting the scripture" attitude was now touted as the new spirituality. Those who excelled in biblical distortion was highly regarded as the group Guru.

Where is that happening? If you ever visit Central Africa - namely Rwanda and Burundi - don't jump the opportunity to meet those young minds. They now are part of our own 7 wonders of the Grand Lake Region.

You now know why they are in my target fire (See pics on top).

Let me now turn to the biblical teaching of Good Works.

St. Paul informed us that:

"For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has before prepared that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:10 Darby

According to this scripture that follows the express emphasize that we are saved by grace and not by works, we are emphatically informed that we were created in Christ for good works. We were made anew in order to do and practice good works.  You can not claim to be of the Lord and indulge and enjoy living a life bereft of Good Works. Good works is the manifestation of who we have become in Christ.

Some Other Verses about Good Works.

I) "Faithful is the Word, and as to these things, I desire that you strongly affirm that THOSE BELIEVING GOD might be careful to maintain GOOD WORKS. These things are good and PROFITABLE to MEN." Titus 3:8

We learn in this scripture that a) this is a request made to Believers (those who believe God), b) We are reminded  that Good work is expected of Believers, c) These things have profit to man. Profit means benefit. Good Works benefit man. Good works do not directly profit God obviously, just like salvation does not profit God. It profits men obviously, since men are the one who benefit from it. However we know that it pleases God, even if it is not profitable to God but profitable to men.

They are other things that is not profitable to God but are beneficial to men, however they still please God:

II) "All Scripture is God-breathed, and is PROFITABLE for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the MAN OF GOD may be perfected, thoroughly furnished to every GOOD WORK." 2Timothy 3:16-17

The Scripture also profit the Man of God for doctrines and the like in order to make him capable of Good Works. The purpose of the existence of the scripture is so that we could be able to do Good Work.

II) "who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity and purify to Himself a special people, ZEALOUS OF GOOD WORKS." Titus 2:14

Jesus saved us with the intention that we would be enthusiastic about good works as the International Standard Version puts it:

"He gave himself for us to set us free from every wrong and to cleanse us so that we could be his special people who are ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT doing good deeds." - Titus 2:14 ISV.

If someone is not at all enthusiastic about doing good works, we have all the scriptural right to worry about what type of christian is S/He and even question the nature of his redemption experience.

III) "PUT THEM IN MIND to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, TO BE READY TO EVERY GOOD WORK," Titus 3:1

Paul certainly is concerned that the Believers should always have this in mind, "be ready to do every good work". I suspect the reason for that, it is because it pleases God when we bear fruits (do Good Works).

IV) "And let ours also learn to maintain GOOD WORKS for necessary uses, so that they may not be UNFRUITFUL." Titus 3:14

Good works are our fruitfulness. It does not profit God, but it does profit men. And by profiting men, it bring Glory to God:

"In this My Father is GLORIFIED, that you bear MUCH FRUIT [Good Works], so you shall be My disciples." John 15:8

Good Works does Glorify God:

a) "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your GOOD WORKS and GLORIFY YOUR FATHER who is in Heaven." Matthew 5:16

b) "having your CONDUCT HONEST among the nations, in that which they speak against you as evildoers, they may GLORIFY GOD in a day of His visitation, seeing your GOOD WORKS." 1 Peter 2:12


Good Works as a mean to silent ignorant and foolish people:

c) " For this is the will of God, that by DOING GOOD (Good Deeds) you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people." 1Peter 2:15

d) "Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, that, even if any are disobedient to the word, they may be gained without the word by the CONDUCT of the wives, ... as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord; whose children you became, DOING GOOD and fearing no terror. " 1Peter 3:1, 6

This is a small encouragement to those who serve their Lord with a pure conscience to keep doing good works for our God do not forget all your work and Labour.

"So that, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not without fruit in the Lord." - 1Corinthians 15:58   

P.S: Remember Dorcas:  "And in Joppa was a certain disciple named Tabitha (which translated is called Dorcas). She was full of good works and kind deeds which she did." Act 9:36