There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing; And one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches.   Prov 13:7 

The dictionary defines a paradox as:

par·a·dox. 1. A seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true. (against opinion)

The Word of God is not lacking for these marvellous conundrums (puzzles).

Some of the more familiar ones are:

Matthew 19:30 "But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

Matthew 23:12 "And whoever exalts himself will be ...

Open your Bibles to Luke 12:15-21

And He said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.  Then He spoke a parable to them, saying:

"The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, 'What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?'  So he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build  greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And...

Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; Genesis 1:14 

And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding. Daniel 2:21

The history of the world is a record of human events from Adam up to the present.

To the secular mind history is only the story of a humanity striv...

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling … Phil 2:12

This passage of scripture has been a source of confusion and debate among theologians for a very long time.

Why?

Because at the heart of the matter are two basic and important questions:-

1. Is salvation given by God or won by human effort? 

2. Can salvation be lost? 

The first question is answered definitively ...