Why God is Selfish?

Another article by Greg Johnson that's well worth reading:

SALVATION IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

We need to start with the “big-picture” of salvation in the Old Testament. Then we’ll look at a few places—particularly in Romans—that speak directly to the question of salvation prior to Christ’s coming. Once we do this, the popular but heretical answers that people were “saved by their works” or “saved by animal sacrifices” can be rejected. We’ll hopefully realize that there’s a lot more grace in the Old Testament than is usually realized!

1. BACKGROUND:

Of course, prior to the fall, the means by which people were “saved” was by perfect obedience to the law of God—though it’s not really salvation, since there was not yet guilt or sin from which to be “saved”. The standard was passing the test about not eating the forbidden fruit—a test that Adam failed.

In a sense, this same standard applies for all time. God never lowered his standard—only those who are blameless in his eyes can enter his presence. What he’s done—rather than lowering his standard of perfection—is to fulfill that standard for us in the life and death of Jesus, our substitute. Through faith, we receive Christ’s righteousness, just as he receives our guilt—which he is punished for (atones for) on the cross. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us” (2 Cor 5:21).

2. Old Testament SALVATION—THE COVENANT

Salvation in the Old Testament isn’t discussed primarily in terms of “going to heaven”— but in terms of belonging to God” as his people. This is true of the New Testament, too—heaven is mentioned, but union with Christ is mentioned almost 200 times just in Paul’s letters.

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The Garden - March~May

Gardening with my wife is the greatest!   She definitely grew up on a farm and gained a lot of knowledge and skills.  Just look at our garden this year so far.  It's going to be so nice to have organic vegetables!

Daniel Goes to Korea for the Summer

Today Daniel took a late night flight to Korea to spend the summer there. He has two more years at Dominion Christian Schools and he'll graduate. We are so glad to see Daniel from time to time!

Stephen Departs from the New Terminal

Stephen said goodbye today after staying with us for 10 months. He'll return to Korea for a few weeks, and since his family is relocating to Los Angeles, CA, he'll go there next and attend public school. His father will be studying for a doctorate degree there. We will all miss Stephen. I will especially miss his wonderful sense of humor. Oh, and you may notice that Atlanta has a new International Terminal.

 

Field Trip to Chick-Fil-A

Our neighbor and friend Bill Connolly works for Chick-Fil-A.  Thanks to his invitation, I finally met the man--Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-Fil-A restaurants!  He is now 91 years old, and he is quite an amazing person.  He gave me an autographed copy of his book, "How Did You Do It, Truett?"   Here are the photos.  Stephen loves Chick-Fil-A and hopes to see (or help start) Chick-Fil-A in Korea, so he really enjoyed this field trip! Stephen's friend Dhiraj also accompanied us.