Last Will and Testament
 
by Dr. Ken Matto

(Col 2:13-14 KJV) And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; {14} Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

One of the most beautiful promises in Scripture is the truth that the Lord Jesus Christ has taken every sin that we have committed and has nailed it to the cross, taking it out if the way. This means that God Himself has removed our sins and has made us clean for Heaven. No vestige of sin will ever be allowed into Heaven, this includes the present time before the New Heavens and New Earth are created. With God removing all of our sins, He makes us ready to go to Heaven upon His return or our home going.

Religions all over the world can be searched and you will not find a sufficient atonement for sins. No world religion offers a way to get into Heaven. In fact, even those who are staunch Roman Catholics are not even given assurance that they have Heaven, even after keeping all their church’s rituals, and yet they claim to be the only true church on Earth. The Elect of God are the most blessed people on this Earth simply because they are the only ones who have a true relationship with the living God. With the Lord Jesus Christ faithfully completing His work of redemption, the believers have a secure future and a secure now.

I really feel sorry for those who believe that salvation is conditional upon what works they can perform. This is nothing more than man getting in the way of a perfect salvation plan. Some denominations teach that water baptism is necessary for salvation which means, in their belief system, the thief on the cross was excluded from Heaven, yet the Lord Jesus Christ promised him that he would be with Him in paradise. Some denominations teach that Christ only paid for the sins up to the point a person is saved. That would make no sense and is a violation of Scripture. The Colossian passages above clearly state that we have been forgiven for all our sins and not just a few which would make it a partial redemption or in reality, no redemption at all. Every one of us was still two millennia away from the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ which means that all our sins were in the future, not just a few. The sacrifice of Christ completely removed all our sins and made us ready for glory the same moment that we became saved.

The book of Revelation states twice that the believer was named before the foundations of the earth. (Rev 13:8 KJV) And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Rev 17:8 KJV) The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. Now every believer is given the task through the Great Commission to go into all the world and reclaim all God’s Elect. Isn’t it nice that the body of Christ itself has been given the task of evangelizing? What makes it greater is that God has promised us that He will supply seed to the Sower. (2 Cor 9:10 KJV) Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;) All we need to do is sow the Word of God and God is the one who will bring about the salvation if that person is one of His Elect.

So many people are walking around on this world with a false sense of security believing that their religion is the right one but in the end it will wind them up in Hell. So many disdain Christianity simply because it is an exclusive faith. We do not pick the children of God, God does. Just because someone joins a church does not make them a child of God, it makes them a member of the church and that is all. The members of the eternal church are picked by God. This means that we have nothing to boast about. No one can ever go around and legitimately claim that they chose God or that they chose to be a Christian.

One of the most encouraging sections of Scripture is found in Hebrews 9:15-18. This section deals with the last will and testament of the Lord Jesus Christ. When a will is written by the party who is still alive, they name the beneficiaries who will be receiving the estate. While the testator of the will is still alive, the will can be changed and beneficiaries added or deleted. When the testator finally dies, whoever is named in that will receives what is due them. The will is in force when the testator finally dies and cannot be changed by anyone. It is a legal document subject to the laws of the land and the wishes of the testator.

In Hebrews we read about the last will of the Lord Jesus Christ and when He died that will became final and cannot be changed. Those whom the Lord Jesus named in His will are those who will receive the benefits. What are the benefits? It is eternal life! I quoted two verses above: Revelation 13:8 and 17:8 where they reveal that the Elect of God were named before the foundation of the world and in 13:8, we read that in principle the Lord Jesus Christ was slain before the foundation of the world. This means that the will, along with its beneficiaries was written and was placed in force in principle. When the Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross, He stated that “it is finished.” When He died on the cross, the will was now in effect and could not be changed.

This means that those who feel they can lose their salvation, if they are truly saved, are misunderstanding the principle behind these verses concerning the legal will of a person. If a person was named in that will, it is impossible to be omitted from that will when the testator died, this means that a truly saved person can never be lost. The problem is that many people try to add their name to the will but that is impossible. No one who is outside the family of God will ever be included in that will. When a person becomes saved it is almost like the lawyer reading the will and then notifying the beneficiary that they are included in the will. When the last one is read, then the family is complete.

There are seventy four people on this Zion’s Gate list and I am not in anyone’s will. Why? I am not a member of your family. Only those named in your family will can be included. Only those named in the last will and testament of the Lord Jesus Christ are included in the Divine Will. If you are truly saved, then you are in the will awaiting the reading of the last name when we will finally go home to the land which God has promised us. (Ezek 34:13 KJV) And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. The land where we will be gathered to is Heaven because as Christians we have no permanent home on this present earth in this present age. Soon! Soon! Soon! Don’t lose hope!  (1/21/05)
 
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