The Anabaptist Voice
05/20/2009

Proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God:  Love, Joy and Peace in Jesus.

Dear friends,

        How are you?  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 
        We have cute visitors these days.  They are bunnies.  We think they are living in our backyard, under some thick flowers.  For the past couple days we see a tiny bunny eating a carrot that we put out for the rabbits.  The baby  bunny is rather tame, it did not run and hide today when Naomi opened the door to throw carrots to it.
        How is the weather?  Over here is getting hot.  The air conditioner has been on.  Here is a photo of the area behind our house, with a tree in blossom and the ground just desert rock and sand.  Next week our sons David and Jim are coming to visit us.  We are looking forward to being with them. 
       Last Sunday we heard about a doctor who asked his dying patients what they feel, and his Christian patients were generally at peace with death and the non-Christians were in agony at the prospect.  He wrote a book about it, and Michi thought about her loved ones and dear friends in Japan.  Some of them are good Christians, but some are not.  They live righteous, kind and honorable lives, but without accepting the grace of God.  Last Sunday even there was a guest speaker who is a missionary to Japan where there are very few Christians, less than 1 percent.  We pray for our dear ones over there.
       We were blessed to hear our grandchildren Titus and Elizabeth sing over the phone for us.  They sing so well as they sang, “Jesus loves me this I know.”  Here is a photo of them.  We received a card from our granddaughter Eryn who is graduating from high school.

       We are all fine.  Thank you, Lord.  Naomi is still going to physical therapy and enjoying it.  We are learning to depend on our Lord Jesus for everything.  He is faithful and wonderful.

       May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you.  (2 Cor 13:14)

your brother and sisters in Christ,

Don, Michi & Naomi Murphy
Tucson, AZ, phone 520-297-1639 
 www.AnabaptistChurch.org

Jesus said, "Do not store up wealth on earth… you can not serve both God and mammon.”  (Matthew 6:19, 24)

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Saved by Grace
by Don Murphy 05/18/2009

       What does ‘saved by grace’ mean?  Let’s examine what the Bible says about that and how it impacts our lives.

       Jesus teaches us that we are born again by the grace of God.  (John 3:3)  Some people call that 'being saved'.  However, we all know that we are not actually saved until the doors of heaven are opened to us when we leave this life on earth.  While we are still here on earth we all have the free will to fall away from God, as the Bible tells us in many places, such as in Hebrews 6:4-8.
       Once we are born again, born from above, then, if we are open to Him and if we are willing to receive Him, the Holy Spirit is given to us to enable us to live a life that is pleasing to God, a life that is a witness to the love of God in our life.  (Mt 3:11, Acts 1:8, 2:4, 10:44, 19:6)
       If the grace of God, the Holy Spirit's power, lives in us and if we allow the Spirit to guide us, then we will live a holy life pleasing to God; we will live in complete accordance with the teachings of our Lord Jesus, obeying all of His commands and teachings which tell us how to love God above all things and how to love our neighbor as ourselves.  When we live this way, we know that we have eternal life.  (1 John 5:13, 18-21)
       John 3:3 teaches us that being born again is a free gift from God.  But to enter the kingdom of God, John 3:5 teaches us that we must repent and be cleansed of our sins and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
       This is what the Bible teaches us about being saved by grace.  It is a gift from our heavenly Father that requires our cooperation to succeed.  Remember that Jesus said that many will try to be saved but only a few will succeed in being saved.  (Luke 13:22-30, Mt 7:13-14, Mt 7:21-27)
       Jesus said, "I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned...  If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love"  (John 15:5-6, 10)

Once saved, always saved?

       Sometimes people think that once they are saved, once they accept Jesus as their Lord and are born again, they are Christians destined for eternal life with Christ in heaven.  However when we examine Scripture we will see that there are different levels of Christian belief and what level is acceptable for eternal life.
       Jesus said in John 3:3 that when a person is born again, born from above, they can then see the kingdom of God (they can then desire it and seek it).  However they have not entered the kingdom until they have been born of the water and the Spirit, He said in John 3:5.  Being born again happens in an instant but being born of the water (made clean from sinful habits) and born of the Spirit (filled with the Holy Spirit to where the Spirit guides your every move) can be a long process of spiritual maturing.
       The apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 4:  “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”  (Eph 4:11-13)
       The apostle James writes:  “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”  (James 1:2-4)
       Hebrews 5:14  “But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”
       Spiritual growth is like human growth, it takes time and nourishment.  Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Different levels of belief

       In the parable of the sower, Jesus described four levels of belief, four types of people who hear the word of God.  (Matthew 13:19-23)
       1.  “When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.  This is the seed sown along the path.”

       2. “The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy.  But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time.  When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away.”
       3.  “The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful.”
       4.  “But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it.  He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
       In His teaching about the Vine and the Branches (John 15:5-6) Jesus describes two types of believers:  “I am the vine; you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”
       Someone asked Jesus, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?"  Jesus replied, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many will try to enter and will not be able to.  Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.’  But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.'  Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’  But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from.  Away from me, all you evildoers!’  There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out.”  (Luke 13:23-27)
       “Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?  I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice.  He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock.  When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.  But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation.  The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”  (Luke 6:46-49)
       In John 8:31-58 Jesus told a group of Jews who believed in Him that if they would live according to His teachings they would know the truth and the truth would set them free.  They said that they are free so Jesus told them they are not free because their father is the devil.  They proved He was correct when they picked up stones to kill Him.
       What do these verses teach us about eternal life?  They teach that once a person is born again, then they begin traveling on that narrow path to the kingdom of God, growing spiritually and bearing fruit of the Spirit in their lives.  However, as Jesus said, most believers will not reach the kingdom, they fall away before they get there. 

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