alexandria

the things that point to salvation by the grace of god rather than mere salvation by right living are, as i see it he is showing us that if we insist on living sinful lives, not living according to the ten commandments he gave us, then we are not saved by his grace unless we stop living sinfully and follow his commandments. i feel nothing in these verses really points to the gift of salvation, through the grace of god because we can only receive gods grace by accepting what jesus did for us when he died on the cross, repenting and doing our best to change our sinful life and start living for and loving god, and jesus for the sacrifice he made for us. holy living is very important to salvation, for example if we live sinfully and break every commandment, we are then giving ourselves over to satan and allowing him to use and do with us whatever he wants. if we live as holy a life as we possibly can, then we are showing that we love jesus and want to share in the gifts he has given us through salvation when he suffered and died on the cross so we could be saved through him. we also need to live a holy life to have our name written in the lambs book of life, which i feel has already been done even before our birth and it cannot be removed unless we insist on living sinfully right to the time we die unless we repent, sincerely repent. holy living is important to god as it keeps us clean and pure so that when we die we can go directly to heaven. holy living does not destroy, tear down or make us unclean such as diseases that are sometimes caused through sinful living. god wants us to be clean and pure so as to be examples for others and so we can be with him in heaven when we die.

jesus looks at his church as his beloved bride, who has been waiting patiently and lovingly for him to come and be joined together as a husband to his wife.

the water of life represents our gift from god of the promise he gave us, that if we follow him we will reign with him in heaven for ever. it is a free gift in the sense that if we receive it willingly and with the knowledge that it is a free gift to us from a loving god who only wants us to have everything, as long as we accept it with thanksgiving and love, as his unconditional love for us. the ways in which the spirit and the bride should extend that invitation in our community is, by inviting those who have not received the free gift, of the "water of life", to join us freely and receive the gift through those who have already receive it and are a shining example of that gift through christ our lord and to tell them how it has changed our lives and our faith.

the significance of the fact that in heaven "god himself will be with them" is that god could not come to earth and dwell amongst his people because it was not possible to look upon the face of god and live. in heaven we are changed and we are then one with god. the promises in 21:4 can only be fulfilled in heaven because earth being a sinful place and suffering is so rampant because the devil has taken hold of so many. in heaven we are in gods place, his kingdom, where if we are fortunate enough to go to all our sufferings, pains and tears are all wiped away and with live forever with our beloved jesus and god the father. i look forward mostly to being in paradise with our beloved jesus and our heavenly father, being healthy and just being free from all suffering.

the significance of the fact that in heaven "god himself will be with them" is that god could not come to earth and dwell amongst his people because it was not possible to look upon the face of god and live. in heaven we are changed and we are then one with god.

i have the assurance that my name is written in the book of life because jesus is the way, the truth and the life, when you accept jesus as your SAVIOR and you change your life and try to live like jesus, and you accept that he made the ultimate sacrifice when he died on the cross for you, you never forget and his promise was simple, be born again (change your life, give up sin) and follow me.

this awesome scene of judgement is so frightening because people are being judged and sent to hell. jesus then opens the many books until he comes to the book of life and then he judges people according to their works so it seems that faith alone can not get us to heaven but the works we do while on earth also. people seem to resist the idea of a final judgement because they are afraid they might not get to heaven but hell instead.

the implications of christ's title are quite fantastic. not only is he king of the whole universe but he is king over those on earth who figure they are the rulers and no one else such as the kings ruling in european countries, our rulers and he is the one and only true god, which means he is even the greatest king of all because he rules over other pagan gods etc., so jesus has the last, first and only power to give or to take away. for the everyday world that surrounds us, has also been given by jesus, god and can at anytime be taken away. the world around us can only exist as long as jesus and god are in control and want it to exist.

i think the reason god appears to jacob yet another time was to bless him once again but most importantly he wanted to change jacobs name to israel and to inform him that he was to multiply and he would be responsible for many nations and many kings being born. he would be the father of many nations and of many kings who would be born of (jacob)now officially renamed israel. the primary promises that god renews to jacob now called israel, was he would be fruitful and multiply into many nations and many kings, he would also give the land which he had given to abraham and isaac he would also give the land to jacob called israel and to all his seed after him (jacob) he would give the land.

i think the reason the new testament hebrews condemned esau for selling his birthright was because of the significant importance of a birthright. your birthright is a gift (blessingJ from god that only god could give or take away, by selling his birthright he was showing contempt and disrespect for god and for what god felt was a most treasured gift that was only given to the eldest son as the head of the family. they also compare esau to the most deadly of sins because he did not value his birthright as the most sacred gift (blessing) from god and he was seen by the hebrews as being the worst kind of sinner, because of his total lack of respect towards god and his gift which is an unforgivable sin. it shows that jacob is very deceitful and very sneaky, he did everything wrong because he knew the value of esaus birthright and he wanted it enough to do whatever it took to get it, he stooped to stealing which also shows his lack of respect and his total contempt for esau