John 12:23-25 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

Here is the great paradox, in order to live you must die. That doesn’t make much sense to many out there but if you placed your faith in Christ, it makes perfect sense.

Romans 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Biptizo is Greek for dip continually. Note the wording, and its meaning, dipped continually in Jesus Christ. This is not a water baptism.

Revelation 7:14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Dipped continually is exactly how our salvation in respect to forgiveness of sins works, continuous dipping, over and over again, by the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Another aspect of the paradox is the surrendered life, to die to self, to place the will of the Father before your own.

Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Hebrews 11:8-10 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

Abraham is the father to three faith based religions, Jewish, Islam, and Christian. All three have the same faith passed down from Abraham. So why are these three religions so opposed to one another? Simply put, because of the issue of the promise. Two of these religions believe in the promise of inheritance, that this land is mine by promise. One sees the inheritor as a thief because the first born Ishmael was pushed out by the other’s mother, Sarah. The city they fight over is Jerusalem, the specific area of dispute, the Dome of the Rock. The third religion understands the promise was given to the seed of Abraham, not seeds.

Galatians 3:16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.

So where does the same faith play a role in all this? Where do you place your faith? In the law of the prophets? Israel has theirs, Islam added one more, Mohammed. You see that the prophets of Israel and Islam are the same but the understanding of the scriptures is tainted by the idea of the failed understanding of the promise. “It is mine!”

Christianity says the promise is in Christ.

2 Corinthians 1:20-22 For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.