God desires all to be saved

In the N.T we find that with regards to salvation, God desires that all men be saved (1Tim 2:4). Note that Paul does not mention that God desires to save all men. The difference in wording may seem insignificant but it is not so. In the 2nd sentence, the conjecture could be that God's will is somehow being thwarted. Yes, God desires that all men comes to repentance (2Peter 3:9). EVEN MORE SO, God commands that all men everywhere should repent (Acts 17:30). This is the heart of God all throughout.  As the God of the Israelites, He says - 'All day long I stretched my hands out to a disobedient people' and yet only a remnant among them will finally be saved (Rom 9:27). God is very clear that He finally acts and that too for His Name's sake.(Eze 36:22) Even now, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God's gracious choice. It is the church, the body of Christ.

 In his prayers, Paul prays for the salvation of Israel (Rom 10:1). He urges that prayers be made on behalf of all men (I Tim 2:1). This gives us an indication as to how our prayers should be. When we pray for the salvation of people, we are not claiming souls through 'the prayer of faith', unless we are specifically lead to do so. We are beseeching the Lord of the harvest, if it so be that we could add up to the prayers of the saints, for the salvation of men. We are pleading for mercy, if perhaps repentance would be granted for life.

Does God overlook sin?

Many times I feel that believers misunderstand grace to mean that I do not have to obey the laws of God. For them, I am free from the Law means that I am free from any law or least a feeling that God is not so strict as He used to be! Does God punish sin in a believer's life at all? How should we understand grace and the work of the blood? How long does grace postpone the punishment? If the sin remains unconfessed, when do the wheels of chastisement begin to move? Well, God does not overlook sin in the New Testament period and we have enough and more saints going through suffering to prove otherwise.What we also see is that most of the time the discipline comes indirectly. For most believers the conviction of sin happens immediately but the delay in repenting causes the Holy Spirit to address the issue in a myriad of ways that is open to Him. The blood of Jesus gives Him the freedom to work out our discipline in ways that would be merciful but much advantageously as well.

Free to be a slave

We were once held bondage to sin and were taken captive by the devil to do his will. The bible says that we have been set free from the clutches of sin and death. We are now free. And then we are told that we are now slaves to Jesus. So then in what way are we free? Well, let's look at this clearly. Even though we have been brought into the kingdom of Jesus, it is a kingdom based on love and not fear. Therefore we can receive the benefits of the kingdom only by deciding to become a slave to Jesus. We were once slaves by compulsion. Now we are free to become a slave out of love. That's when a 'believer' becomes a disciple. Yes, Jesus is Lord of all. But He wants to be your personal Lord too, and that happens only when you receive and walk under that Lordship. There is no sense in God forcing us to bow the knee. Let's bow the knee in humble adoration.

Losing our personal battles

I am seeing many believers fall by the way side and there is nothing wrong with my theology. What they have lost is not their salvation of their souls because they are born from above (if they truly are and God does not make mistakes). What they have lost is a chance to glorify Jesus fully here on earth. Our theology has to make room for the fact that just like in a war, many are losing their personal battles even though their country would finally win. We may finally see ourselves standing on the sidewalk and cheering those who are still running because we have given up our race. We should have been running with them but we neglected so great a salvation.  In that case, what we are now doing is trying to find comfort for our avoidable wounds and justifying our distressing situation instead of soaring high like the eagle. We have not lost our God. We have only lost our victories.

Depravity of man

When we study the Scriptures especially the Gospels, the heart of God to bless, heal and deliver is very evident and we think it is a straightforward case of God blessing man and man responding in kind. Only a closer look will make us realize that many of the miracles also revealed the heart of man and how he failed to respond to God in a way pleasing to Him. The more we meditate on the glory of God, the more we realize the depravity of man. Unless we include the depravity of man in our thinking, we would never be able to fully comprehend the grace of God. Man's sinfulness has very less place in our practical thinking even though it is there in our theology. Too many of us are quick to find fault with the glorious doctrines of God but it only reveals how less they really know themselves. The most important reason why He cannot increase in our lives is because we do not know how to decrease. Only in His light, we can see light.