John 20:29, “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”
Someone recently asked me a very good question. Bible prophecy teaches that when Jesus Christ returns, 7 years AFTER the Pretribulation Rapture takes place, He will put down the Antichrist and establish His earth Kingdom from Jerusalem. The next 1,000 year reign of Christ (as all saints helping Him reign - Revelation 20:6) is called in theology: the “Millennium.”
So I was asked how will it be possible for anyone to be saved during the Millennium, since everyone will see Jesus in the flesh. I mean, isn't faith trusting in what you cannot see? No, that is not what faith means! Faith is putting your confidence in Jesus, believing that He is the only begotten Son of God, the Christ. Faith is believing that facts that you are a guilty sinner, and that Christ died in your place on the cross, was buried and then bodily resurrected three days later. If that is your only hope for Heaven, then you are saved dear reader. You are a bonafide born-again child of God.
Scriptural evidence of what I say is found in John 20:29, “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” I love that! John 20:29b, “Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed...” Here we see clear Scriptural evidence that a person CAN believe in something that is right in front of their eyes. However, Jesus promised that there is a special blessing for those who BELIEVE, but have never seen Jesus in person. What further saith the Scripture? ...
1st Peter 1:7-9, “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.”
As an adopted child of God since I was age 13, by faith I have believed in whom I cannot see. Jesus Christ is my blessed Savior. I believe Jesus is the only begotten Son of God, my Redeemer, Creator, God, Friend, Lord and Savior. The true account of Thomas in the Bible is proof that lost sinners will be saved during the Millennial period, by simply accepting God's written Word as recorded in the inspired Scriptures, concerning who Christ is and what He did for us and why He needed to do it. To be saved you MUST agree with these FACTS:
- WHO Jesus is - The Christ, the only begotten Son of God (John 20:31)
- WHAT Jesus did - He died on a cross for our sins, was buried and resurrected from the dead the third day (1st Corinthians 15:1-6)
- WHY Jesus needed to die - It is because all humanity are sinners deserving of eternal damnation in Hell (Romans 3:19-23)
Simply BELIEVE IT, oh guilty and needy sinner, and you will be immediately and forever saved!
False Prophet Bryan Denlinger
Bryan Denlinger, who is an unsaved Calvinist, has a popular YouTube channel. Sadly, Bryan is an infidel, an unsaved false prophet, who denies salvation by faith alone...
Bryan Denlinger Exposed - Repentance Blacklist and Works Salvation
Bryan Denlinger hates Pastor Jack Hyles, Steven Anderson and anybody who preaches a free grace Gospel. Mankind by nature wants to help save himself, so he wickedly ADDS works to God's ultimate sacrifice (i.e., His only begotten Son) which was provided solely by Jesus through Calvary's cross. Jesus shed His precious blood and took that blood to sprinkle upon the heavenly Mercy Seat located in the Holy of Holies (Hebrews 9:12, 22-24; 12:24). Without the shedding of Jesus' blood (God's blood - Acts 20:28) there is no remission for sin. That is what the wonderful book of Hebrews is all about.
Bryan rationalizes that since everyone will physically see Jesus during the 1,000 year Millennium, salvation by faith will not be possible. So, he just assumes redemption will be by works. But, Jacob met the Lord face-to-face and still had faith. Genesis 32:30, “And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”
Abraham had conversations with the Lord; such as, when Abraham begged the Lord not to destroy Sodom if he could just find 10 righteous people. Jesus' apostles saw Him walk through walls, raise the dead and physically ascend into the clouds (Acts 1:11). Yet they had faith in Jesus, without works (Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:4-7). Bryan Denlinger is a darn fool, unlearned and woefully ignorant concerning the Word of God.
Jesus told everyone, everywhere that He went, that if they saw Him they saw God the Father. This is because Jesus came to earth as the Godhead incarnate. That is, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, fully dwelt inside the spirit, soul and body of God the Son on earth (Colossians 2:9).
So faith is not just trusting in the invisible, as evidenced when Jesus rebuked doubting Thomas. The risen Savior had already appeared to the other disciples, but Thomas was out to lunch or something. When Thomas came back, he was so hurt in his soul that he vowed that unless he SAW THE SAVIOR, he refused to believe. So Jesus graciously appeared PHYSICALLY to Thomas, and invited him to touch His nail-scared hands, and thrust his hand into Jesus' wounded side. Thomas did so.
Afterwards, Jesus commended Thomas for his faith, but said blessed are they who have not seen, yet they still believe. John 20:29, “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” I love that. We have a special blessing from God because we trust in a Savior we've never seen, met nor heard. Albeit, the fact that Thomas had faith, ONLY BECAUSE HE SAW, proves that you can have faith even in plain sight of the Savior.
Faith is not always a matter of trusting what we cannot see, but also believing what we can see. We have the Holy Bible, which we CAN see. We have nature, which we CAN see. We have the godly testimony of other saints, which we CAN see. Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Most people interpret this verse wrong. They think it means faith is to trust in something invisible. But faith is believing that Jesus is the Savior, who is whom He claimed to be—the Christ, the only begotten Son of God.
Why did Peter trust Jesus, but Judas didn't? So we see that faith is trusting upon the Savior, whether visible or invisible. The Apostles all saw Jesus (God) face to face and ministered by His side for 3 years. All believed upon Him, except one, Judas. It will be the same way during the Millennium period. People will see Jesus, who will serve as our worthy omnipotent King, over the whole earth from David's throne in Jerusalem. Some people will trust Jesus, others won't, but they will ALL see Him, just as all of the apostles and thousands of disciples did.
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