The Eleventh Hour

[AreYouReady?]

I had a friend who smoked herself to death.

She was so incapacitated and bedfast, yet she got baptized in Jesus Name. She got baptized at the hospital I worked at. We put her in a bed lift (which was a tarp attached to a lift) and dunked her in a whirlpool tub while the pastor baptized her in the Name of Jesus.

Then months later, her husband got her in a wheelchair and brought her to church where she was wheeled up to the altar and she sought for and received the Holy Ghost.

She wasn't raised up from her illness, nor did it delay her subsequent death not long after her receiving the Holy Ghost, even though she was anointed with oil and prayed for the healing. But...we had many long talks and she told me that she did not believe that she was going to be healed.

My friend did not have good eyesight anymore. The many pharmaceuticals she was taking caused the cataracts in her eyes. Just days before her death, she was in her hospital room and she said that she saw what she thought was a nurse in her room because the nurses wear white. But it wasn't a nurse. It was an angel in her room. The angel told her that she was there to 'take her home".

[Lafon]

Originally Posted by AreYouReady?

What many of us do not realize is that God knows everything we ever said or even thought. He sees the heart. We do not.
He promises us salvation if we repent. If the dying brother repents and believes on his deathbed, would it be any different than the thief on the cross? Jesus saw that man's heart.

Yes, it would be different, for the thief on the cross lived and died while the terms of the former covenant was in effect (Jesus had not yet been glorified therefore the New Covenant was not yet in effect). Under the law forgiveness of sins was obtained when an Israelite brought a sacrifice to the priest and repented of his sins, after which the sacrifice (usually a spotless lamb) was slain and its blood placed upon the altar.

The thief on the cross repented to the High Priest who shed His blood on that very day, thus making provision for the thief to be saved. However, because we no longer live under the terms of the Law (the former covenant), then our salvation is obtained by obedience to the directions prescribed by our Lord - repentance, immersion in the waters of baptism "in the name of the Lord," and the receiving of the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in another language as the Spirit gives the ability to speak.

It is sad that one only feels a need to be saved when brought to the point of their demise, oft-times when circumstances preclude their obedience to the terms of God's "new" covenant with man. The question I'm sure such folks will confront at judgment is why did they wait until then, when they were given so many opportunities prior to that moment to obey the gospel.

While I certainly have empathy for anyone under such conditions (and believe me, at my advanced age I've often witnessed such), there remains little one can do except pray that God would somehow make provisions for that person to recover sufficiently that they might become able to do what God demands of us all, without exception.

[RandyWayne]

Originally Posted by Lafon

Yes, it would be different, for the thief on the cross lived and died while the terms of the former covenant was in effect (Jesus had not yet been glorified therefore the New Covenant was not yet in effect). Under the law forgiveness of sins was obtained when an Israelite brought a sacrifice to the priest and repented of his sins, after which the sacrifice (usually a spotless lamb) was slain and its blood placed upon the altar.

The thief on the cross repented to the High Priest who shed His blood on that very day, thus making provision for the thief to be saved. However, because we no longer live under the terms of the Law (the former covenant), then our salvation is obtained by obedience to the directions prescribed by our Lord - repentance, immersion in the waters of baptism "in the name of the Lord," and the receiving of the Spirit with the evidence of speaking in another language as the Spirit gives the ability to speak.

It is sad that one only feels a need to be saved when brought to the point of their demise, oft-times when circumstances preclude their obedience to the terms of God's "new" covenant with man. The question I'm sure such folks will confront at judgment is why did they wait until then, when they were given so many opportunities prior to that moment to obey the gospel.

While I certainly have empathy for anyone under such conditions (and believe me, at my advanced age I've often witnessed such), there remains little one can do except pray that God would somehow make provisions for that person to recover sufficiently that they might become able to do what God demands of us all, without exception.

So it was easier to be saved under the law of the OT. Got it.

[navygoat1998]

Originally Posted by RandyWayne

So it was easier to be saved under the law of the OT. Got it.

Christ and Him crucified is the new covenant.

Mark 14:24
24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the new[a] covenant, which is shed for many. (NKJV)

The thief on the Cross is the plan of Salvation displayed. Grace and Faith!

Ephesians 2:8-9
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. (NKJV)

[Lafon]

Originally Posted by RandyWayne

So it was easier to be saved under the law of the OT. Got it.

Quite the contrary.... we today do NOT have to raise or purchase a lamb to be sacrificed as an atonement for our sins; Jesus Christ did that for us. We today do NOT need to confess our sins to a mortal man (that's what the Levite priests were, mortal human beings just like you and I), rather we confess our sins to the Lamb who willingly sacrificed Himself for our sake. Lastly, we today who take heed to and obey the commandments which set forth those acts of obedience God's demands of us to obtain salvation, do NOT have to do the things which were commanded while the Law was effective, for the blood of our Lamb is ever sufficient (meaning we NO longer need to offer up the blood of Christ, for He shed His blood once for all time).

Considering all these things then I am persuaded that it is much easier for one to be saved under the terms of God's "new" covenant than under the "old." (You may believe otherwise, and that is your God-given right to do so.)

[deacon blues]

Originally Posted by navygoat1998

DB I would give him the Gospel as I know it.

2 Peter 3:9
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long suffering toward us,not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (NKJV)

Well said

[deacon blues]

Originally Posted by RandyWayne

So it was easier to be saved under the law of the OT. Got it.

Incredible isn't it?

[deacon blues]

Originally Posted by Lafon

Quite the contrary.... we today do NOT have to raise or purchase a lamb to be sacrificed as an atonement for our sins; Jesus Christ did that for us. We today do NOT need to confess our sins to a mortal man (that's what the Levite priests were, mortal human beings just like you and I), rather we confess our sins to the Lamb who willingly sacrificed Himself for our sake. Lastly, we today who take heed to and obey the commandments which set forth those acts of obedience God's demands of us to obtain salvation, do NOT have to do the things which were commanded while the Law was effective, for the blood of our Lamb is ever sufficient (meaning we NO longer need to offer up the blood of Christ, for He shed His blood once for all time).

Considering all these things then I am persuaded that it is much easier for one to be saved under the terms of God's "new" covenant than under the "old." (You may believe otherwise, and that is your God-given right to do so.)

Nobody was saved under the old covenant. The law could only condemn mankind because it demanded perfection. The thief on the wasn't saved because he was under the OT Law, He was saved because of the grace of God extended to him because of his faith.

[Esther]

Remember the parable of those working all day and those working an hour received the same pay as agreed.

I believe God will judge according to His Word.