INFORMATION ON THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO "MARK"

The Gospel According to Mark

The message of Mark's Gospel is captured in a single verse: "For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many" (10:45).  Chapter by chapter, the book unfolds the dual focus of Christ Jesus's life: service and sacrifice.

Mark portrays Jesus as a Servant on the move, instantly responsive to the will of the Father. By preaching and teaching, and healing.  He ministers to the needs of others even to the point of death.  After the Resurrection, He commissions His followers to continue His work in His power --- servants following in the steps of the perfect Servant.

The ancient title for this Gospel was Kata Markon, "According to Mark."  The author is best known by his Latin name Marcus, but in Jewish circles he was called by his Hebrew name "John, whose surname was Mark."

THE LAMB'S BOOK OF LIFE

The Book of Life is the set of names of those who will live with God forever in heaven. It is the roll of those who are saved. This Book of Life is also mentioned in Revelation 3:5; 20:12; and Philippians 4:3. The same book is also called the Lamb’s Book of Life because it contains the names of those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus (Revelation 13:8; 21:27).

How can you be sure your name is written in the Book of Life? Be sure you’re saved. Repent of sin and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior (Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5). Once your name is written in the Book of Life, it is never erased (Revelation 3:5; Romans 8:37-39). No true believer should doubt his eternal security in Christ (John 10:28-30).

The Great White Throne Judgment described in Revelation 20:11-15 is a judgment for unbelievers. That passage makes it clear that no one at that judgment has his name in the Book of Life (Revelation 20:12-14). Since their names are not in the Book of Life, their fate is sealed, their punishment is sure.

Written by AbaloneKid (Chaim)

THE EVIDENCE OF SALVATION

THE EVIDENCE OF SALVATION (fruitful works by gifts God gives us)

We believe in eternal security, that is, once a person is born again by the power of God, he is saved forever. Jesus gives “eternal life” (John 10:28), not temporary life. But we often get questions having to do with losing faith. How is salvation maintained? What if someone had saving faith at one time in his life, but later loses faith? Are good works necessary to sustain faith? Are we really secure in Christ?

There are four basic approaches to the issues surrounding faith, works, and security. The first approach is to say that you must have faith and continued obedience to be saved. You will not know for sure that you’re saved until you die and your life is finally evaluated by God. Then you will be saved or lost based on your performance in life. This is the basic teaching of the Roman Catholic Church as well as the thought of many Protestants. However, this approach does not adequately explain the teaching of Scripture that we are saved by grace through faith and that salvation is something that takes place here and now—not just in the afterlife.

The second approach to the relationship of faith, works, and security says that you are saved by faith to the exclusion of works. In this line of thinking, if you profess faith in Christ and subsequently repudiate your faith or embrace gross sin, you are still saved, because you are saved no matter what you do. This approach, sometimes called “easy believism,” does not take seriously the warnings in Scripture that emphasize personal holiness and enduring faith.

The third approach to faith, works, and security states that you are saved by faith, but you must somehow maintain your salvation through a combination of faith and works—or at least you must avoid flagrant, unrepentant sin. In other words, you may be saved, justified, born again, adopted into God’s family, and indwelt with the Holy Spirit yet still fall away and ultimately be lost. While this approach does take seriously Scripture’s warnings against sin, it still does not properly account for the many passages that speak of assurance of salvation, not to mention that we are saved apart from our works.

The final approach to faith, works, and security affirms that you are saved by faith based on the merit of Jesus Christ who died for you. In a great exchange, your sin was placed on Christ, and His righteousness was placed on you. The result of being born again and indwelt with God’s Spirit is that He begins to change you from the inside out. Your inner change becomes outwardly visible by continued faith and increasing obedience. If you profess faith in Christ but offer no evidence of a changed life, we have good reason to suspect that your initial profession may not have been genuine (Matthew 7:21).

The first approach fails because it adds works to faith as the means of salvation and denies security. The second approach fails because it ignores the need for a changed life (see Ephesians 1:4). The third approach fails because it places on us the duty of maintaining salvation instead of on Christ where it belongs (see Galatians 1:1–3). The fourth and final approach is biblical. We are saved by faith, not by our own good works (Ephesians 2:8–9), yet we are saved to do good works (Ephesians 2:10).

Many people talk about eternal security. The old Reformed term is perseverance of the saints. We persevere because the God who saves the believer is also the God who keeps the believer safe and enables him or her to continue in faith and good works (Philippians 1:6).

By AbaloneKid (Chaim)

BE ASSURED

BE ASSURED! 

Thank you Jesus; through you and your sacrifice and blood shed to pay the judgment on our sins, in the death you died, burial and resurrection the 3rd day, we are blessed to be in your care now and your family forever and a part of your loving bride.

We believe it is our privilege, not only of some, but of all who are born again by the Spirit through faith in Christ as revealed in the Scriptures, to be assured of our salvation from the very day we received Jesus Christ to be our Lord and our Savior; 

This assurance is not founded upon any discovery of our worthiness or fitness, but wholly upon the testimony of God in His written Word.
Our assurance of our salvation is in the truth of God’s Word. We are saved based on the promises God has declared, not because of our subjective experiences.

1 John 5:
And this is the record: that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
12 He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son hath not life.
13 These things I have written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe in the name of the Son of God.

WE SHALL NOT DOUBT!

Psalm 119:
11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.

WE WITNESS TO THE WORLD THROUGH YOU

We, your brethren and disciples do love you, are eternally grateful , and shall never cease to have within us a desire to obey your commands and live according to your will for us wherein we start : FOR THE GLORY OF GOD! . 

Luke 10: 20 "...... rejoice because your names are written in Heaven"

Phil.4:
3 Yes, and I ask you, my true yoke fellow, to help these women who have labored with me for the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

2 Cor. 5:
1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tabernacle, were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord;
7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.

2 Tim.1:
12 for which cause I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed. For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that Day.

Heb.10:
22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

1 John 5:
13 These things I have written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe in the name of the Son of God.

Beloved's: REJOICE

Because our names are written in heaven; in the book of life, called the Lamb's book of life, written from the foundation of the world; by God's divine predestination to everlasting glory and happiness. 

God's election to eternal life is of particular persons, of persons by name; that it is sure, and certain, and immutable, and that the knowledge of this may be attained to, only through the grace of God; the revelation of Christ, and the witness of his Spirit in us who are His; and that this is the foundation and security of all our blessings through Jesus Christ from whom be all grace and glory.

Written by AbaloneKid (Chaim)

MY LIFE'S SPIRITUAL HONOR AND DUTY - By Oswald Chambers (1874 - 1917) in "My Utmost For His Highest"

My Life's Spiritual Honor and Duty:  Oswald Chambers

"I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise and to the unwise." (Romans 1:14)

Paul was overwhelmed with the sense of his indebtedness to Jesus Christ, and he spent his life to express it.  The greatest inspiration in Paul's life was his view of Jesus Christ as his spiritual creditor.  Do I feel that same sense of indebtedness to Christ regarding every unsaved soul?  As a saint, mmy life's spiritual honor and duty is to fulfill my debt to Christ in relation to those lost souls.  Every tiny bit of my life that has value I owe to the redemption of Jesus Christ.  Am I doing anything to enable Him to bring His redemption into evident reality in the lives of others?  I will only be ableto do this as the Spirit of God works into me this sense of indebtedness.

I am not a superior person among other people --- I am a bondservant of the Lord Jesus.  Paul said, ". . . you are not your own . . . you were brought at a price . . ." (First Corinthians 6:19-20).  Paul sold himself to Jesus Christ and he said, in effect, "I am a debtor to everyone on the face of the earth because of the gospel of Jesus; I am free only that I may be an absolute bondservant of His."  That is the characteristic of a Christian's life once this level of spiritual honor and duty becomes real.  Quit praying about yourself and spend your life for the sake of others as the bondservant of Jesus.  That is the true meaning of being broken bread and poured-out wine in real life.