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change the Kingdom’s work.  It's so hard to give of our selves for others; it feels so natural and right  to have others serve our interests and appetites.

 

Ah, but some will say (and especially the good Lutherans), “Hey!   Aren’t we saved by grace through faith-- not by our works!”

 

This is absolutely true, but  it’s not the whole truth.  We are saved by grace through faith in a very unique Jesus Christ who tells us in His Word how He seeks that we should live.  The problem is that many believe in the Christ crafted within their imaginations who is so indefinite that faith in the fabricated Jesus is easy.

 

A dramatic scene in a movie that was about the life of Martin Luther shows Luther defending his position that we are saved by grace through faith.  He is lecturing to students who have been raised on the notion that we are saved by faith and works.  A student stands up to protest Luther’s  ideas concerning salvation by faith alone. "It can't be that easy!"

 

"Do you think faith is easy?" quips back Luther.

 

Faith is not easy!  The very powers of hell, spiritual hosts with intellect and resources beyond our imagination, are trying to destroy our faith.  Dark forces want to keep us away from the Word of God.  Dark forces want us to neglect worship.  Dark forces minimize the importance of prayer, Bible study, and a daily walking with God.  Dark forces seek to keep us from the very stuff that creates and builds faith.

 

And why do they seek to destroy our faith in the genuine, living, biblical Christ?  So they can substitute an imposter and then feast upon us and lead us into hell.

 

SO ASSUMING THAT THERE IS A HELL, LET'S BRIEFLY CONSIDER:

IS IT A PLACE?

WHAT WILL IT BE LIKE?

AND WHOSE IT FOR AND WILL ANYONE EVER GO THERE?

 

First, is hell an actual place?  Interestingly enough, I just read an article by a scientist who argued that new understandings gained in physics might be used to explain the location of hell.  But we don’t need to look to science in order to speak about hell.  The true and trustworthy Word of God tells us that there is a hell.  It’s a place, but it’s also a state of mind or conscience.

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