{"id":8468,"date":"2018-03-30T09:01:30","date_gmt":"2018-03-30T09:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=8468"},"modified":"2018-03-30T09:01:30","modified_gmt":"2018-03-30T09:01:30","slug":"good-friday-special-scoffing-and-joking-with-salvation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=8468","title":{"rendered":"Good Friday Special: Scoffing and joking with salvation"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Tope Banso!<\/strong>
\n\u201cBut the other criminal protested, \u2018Don’t you fear God even when you are dying? We deserve to die for our evil deeds, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.\u2019 Then he said, \u2018Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom\u2019\u201d (Luke 23:40-42 New Living Translation).
\nJesus didn\u2019t die out of weakness or because he lacked power to save himself (Matthew 26:52-54). Neither did he die because he was a sinner. He died to save the world, including you!
\nThat is why I pity one of the two criminals crucified with Jesus. He should have kept his mouth shut if he didn\u2019t know the right thing to say.
\nInstead of taking advantage of the last opportunity he had to make his way right with God, he joined those mocking Jesus. He said, \u201cSo you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself \u2014 and us, too, while you’re at it!\u2019\u201d (Luke 23:39 New Living Translation) That criminal was not only a criminal, he was also not wise!
\nBut look at his fellow criminal. He was wise. He didn\u2019t join his colleague to scoff at Jesus. He defended Jesus saying he was innocent unlike the two of them and begged him to remember him when he came into his Kingdom as seen in our introductory text. What a wise, God-fearing, repentant criminal!
\nHe took advantage of the last opportunity he had to ask for forgiveness, and he got it. This hell-bound criminal got last minute salvation. His \u2018flight\u2019 to hell was diverted to heaven because he believed in the Son of God! His ticket to hell was cancelled because hell was no more his destination! (Psalm 16:10 The Message).
\nAnd what was Jesus\u2019 reply to the request of this God-fearing criminal? \u201cI assure you, today you will be with me in paradise\u201d (Luke 23:43 New Living Translation).
\nThat criminal who mocked Jesus is in hell today. Notwithstanding any excuse for going into crime, he had the last opportunity to seek forgiveness before he died but he wasted it. His fellow criminal who didn’t mock Jesus but desired to be saved and be part of Christ’s Kingdom is in heaven with Jesus today. Why? He took advantage of his last opportunity. Do you know your last opportunity?
\nIf you\u2019re not born again yet, you can be either of these two criminals. You have sinned too (Romans 3:23). But are you going to be as wise as that criminal who acknowledged his sin and Jesus forgave and took to paradise or you\u2019ll be like the other criminal who scoffed at Jesus and ended in hell?
\nHave you confessed your sinfulness to God and asked for forgiveness through His Son, Jesus Christ or you\u2019re playing with sin and mocking Jesus? \u201cFor the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us who are saved it is the power of God\u201d (1 Corinthians 1:18 American Standard Version).
\nFriend, there\u2019s no salvation in any other name except Jesus Christ. Religion saves nobody, a Father and child relationship with the LORD God Almighty does. If you\u2019ve not given your life to Jesus, seize this opportunity now. Today is the day of salvation.
\nDon\u2019t joke with salvation like that criminal did and went to hell fire. Invite Jesus into your heart now.
\n\u25cfBanso, an Abuja-based minister, can be reached via Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, at cedarministryintl@yahoo.com, cedarministryng@gmail.com;
\nTel No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523; and on
\nWhatsApp No: +2349081295947<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Tope Banso! \u201cBut the other criminal protested, \u2018Don’t you fear God even when you are dying? We deserve to die for our evil deeds, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.\u2019 Then he said, \u2018Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom\u2019\u201d (Luke 23:40-42 New Living Translation). Jesus didn\u2019t die out of weakness […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":8469,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8468\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}