“There’s smoke on you!”

I heard someone make that statement sometime back as they were summing up in somewhat of 'dramatic' fashion what Jesus was basically saying to the world when He came to ‘save’ us.

“There’s smoke on you and you better let me save you from what is going to eventually destroy you.”

It's hard to say how that statement might ‘land’ in a mixed crowd of people who hear it, but if you take the time to ‘unpack’ that statement, you begin to see the truth in it, and the desire Jesus has to truly ‘save’ us from ‘perishing’. So for those who are willing to take a little time today to just examine...what our beloved Bible has to say, you might consider the following passages that I will lay out for you here now. And please pray for God to give you understanding and revelation in your heart, because He is the only One who can cause His word to take root and work in you.

And take your time with each one of these...

This...is what the Bible has to say: God’s ‘wrath’ is on everyone who does not believe the Son. 

“He who believes in the Son has everlasting life. He who does not believe the Son shall not see life...but the wrath of God remains/abides on him.” (John 3:36)

“Whosoever believes and is baptized will be ‘saved’ (from the penalty of God’s wrath and judgement), but whoever does not believe shall be condemned.” (Mark 16:16)

“God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be ‘saved’.” (John 3:17)

“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already...because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18)

“We know the whole world lies in/under the power and control of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19)

Jesus told Paul: “I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.” (Acts 26:16). He goes on: “I am sending you to the Gentiles to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.” (17-18)

Peter proclaimed in one of his first sermons: “Repent, therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” (Acts 3:19). He goes on to add: “Moses told the fathers- The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet (Jesus) like me from your brethren. Him you must hear and listen to in everything He tells you. And everyone who does not heed that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.” (22-23)

In Luke 13:1-5, the discussion had turned to a couple of tragic events where numbers of people lost their lives and were killed. Jesus then asked those who were present: “Do you suppose that these people who were killed...were ‘worse sinners than all the other people around them, in that region at the time?”

Twice...He asked them this question, once for each incident; and twice He answered His own question: “I tell you, no; but unless you repent, you will all...likewise perish.”

Now let me assure, of this you can be certain when it comes to knowing and understanding the heart of God, along with His desires for each and every one of us: “It’s not His will that any perish but that all should come to repentance”...since He “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (2 Peter 3:9; 1 Tim. 2:4)

So... what are we to do with this ‘information’ written there in the Bible, especially given the possibility that ‘smoke’ was/is indeed... on us all?

We do see in several places where after hearing the gospel preached, people were convicted and began asking: “What must I/we do in order to be ‘saved’?” (Acts 2:37; 16:30).

And for all those who have resigned themselves to ‘hanging their hat of security’ on that one verse that says: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God...” (Eph. 2:8)...exactly what is it that we are being ‘saved’ from? And how exactly does this ‘grace through faith’ actually work to ‘save’ us?

Which then leads to a couple of other questions we might want to revisit and examine, like ‘what does it mean to have ‘faith’ ...and ‘believe in or on Jesus’? Were you taught that if you ‘really believed’...as opposed to just ‘saying you believe’ (whatever that means), then all was well with your soul and you ‘need not do’...anything else? Just...’believe’? And when Jesus warned us that ‘unless we repent...we will all likewise perish’...what exactly does it mean to ‘repent’? What is it...that we are ‘turning from’ (which is what ‘repenting’ means)?

It might prove to be beneficial if we heed Paul’s advice that he gave a church of ‘believers’, when he advised them (and us) to: “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail the test” (2 Cor. 13:5).

Care to join me tomorrow when we take another look at some of these familiar terms and expressions that we’ve grown used to tossing around?