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NASB | Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace [God's remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; |
Bible Question:
The media says Muselim is the fastest growing religious in the world. Even in Africa more people become Muselim than Christian. What does the Muselim religious offer that the Christian don't have? Are the Muselim people that the bible refer to the 2000 million anti-Christ toward the end of the world? As a Christian, what can we do to count this trend? |
Bible Answer: So much to say, so little time to say it. I can't answer as to the reason, but only that we have been told that in the end times there will appear the unholy spirit, the unholy son of the unholy father, and the unholy father. Now the unholy spirit, we think, is not Islam, but an amalgamation of religions that has "a little something for everyone" and nothing for God. This, we think, has to happen because "all the world" will worship the beast. (Although this can just as easily happen through the power of the beast and his image. Christians - the salt and light - will be gone.) In order for the amalgam religion to take place, the Western world has to raise the stature of the lesser (in the West) religions. We have seen this happen in recent months. We see in California students are being forced to act as if they were muslim and recite from the Koran and pray to Allah. We have seen our President call this brutal demonic religion "a religion of peace". This is a big falsehood. Islam means submission (TO THE LAW) not peace. The acceptance of Islam as a "viable" religion will lead to it having equality or even prominance as a religion, thereby making it easy to blend all the religions. Also, the "church" has to give up it's claim of exclusivity. Many liberal "churches" already deny the deity of Christ. So as "churches" give up their exclusivity claim, and the other religions rise to prominance, the combination of all religions becomes an easy step. *This theory of the amalgam religion can not be proven and can only be speculation* But we know for certain there will be an appearance of the unholy trinity. This amalgam religion is a possibility of what may happen and not a certainty (Have I emphasized the disclaimers enough? Revelation is dead on True and reliable. It is our interpretations and spculations that are uncertain) Now concerning these statement of works vs grace, I liken it to your neighbor having a fence. Now this fence has incredible workmanship and design. One day as you are pulling out of your driveway you back into the fence and destroy it. The owner comes out and insists that you owe him a fence exactly as it was before. You know that the law is on his side and that he is right. So you hire several contractors to come out and look at the fence, but none of them can make a bid because they can't do the workmanship, and they can't even determine the material it is made from. So you go out and buy some wood and get up one morning and slap together a fence. You work all day, very hard. But the fence is made of wood instead of the material unknown by man, and there are no intricate carvings, and the spacing is uneven, and it is an unprofessional job. But because you worked hard on it all day, you go to your neighbors door and pound on it, demanding that he let you into his house and feed you supper because you worked hard on his fence so he owes you. In contrast, grace is like the same fence being destroyed, and no one can rebuild it, but instead of getting up one morning to buy wood and build the fence, you look out your window and see your other neighbor from across the street is out there building the fence for you. When he finishes it is perfect. It is exactly as it was before, made from the same material unknown by man, complete with detailed and intricate carvings. You no longer owe your neighbor a fence, and the price is that your neighbor from across the street, who built the fence for you, insists that for payment you come to His house and let Him feed you supper. |