Tag Archive | works

We can fall from grace, and grace is conditional – we must be HUMBLE

We can fall from GRACE

The word for “grace” in Greek is charis and it can mean favor, kindness, mercy, etc. As always, it’s best to check the usage of this word in the rest of the Scriptures because lexicons might not get the true meaning. We can read here and there that the grace of God is endless, and this means that God is always a merciful and forgiving God ready to cleanse people from their sins, but it doesn’t say that he does this without conditions. Even if grace is unmerited, we certainly don’t get it unconditionally and no matter how we live our lives.

Unfortunately, there some who believe that Grace means that Jesus always covers our sin, or hides it from the Father, so that we can get some kind of a “license to sin” even if they emphasize that we should still not “misuse” Grace in that way. But they still believe that Jesus has taken our sins on himself and transferred his righteousness to us, so that we are always positionally righteous even if we sin – as long as we have faith in God. The truth is, however, that we are only righteous if we DO righteousness. We are indeed cleansed from our sins in the blood of Jesus IF we confess our sins and repent, but nowhere does it say “once righteous, always righteous”.

The Biblical definition of Grace signifies obedience

Tit 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, DENYING UNGODLINESS and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world

Col 1:6 Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth

1 Pet. 1:2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.

We can fall from Grace and we can get it in vain

Gal. 5:2-4 shows that we can fall from grace. 5:14 shows that those who were rising to fall were previously saved. They had believed and received the true gospel (3:2; 1:9); were deserting God and turning to a false gospel (1:6); had received the Spirit of God (3:2,5) and were initially running a good spiritual life (5:7); etc. Compare this to Acts 14:21-23 which shows that the Galatians who became disciples were in the Christian faith and placed their trust in the Lord. Paul was not upset with the Galatians for that they had the nerve to obey the ten commandments, but because they believed circumcision (the ceremonial law) was necessary for salvation.

Gal 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

Galatians 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

Gal. 5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

Hebr. 12:15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

1 Kor 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

2 Kor 6:1 We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.

Jona 2:8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy (forfeit the grace that could be theirs NIV)

Apg 13:43 Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.

Hebr. 10:29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

Judas 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Sam 7:15 But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.

Jer 16:5 For thus saith the LORD, Enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away my peace from this people, saith the LORD, even lovingkindness and mercies.

Read the CONDITIONS stated below, and notice that being humble is one of the requirements

We cannot boast of grace because it appears before all men. Grace is a teacher that will instruct the humble to deny themselves and all sins. The grace of God appeared to all men, but only the humble receive of it.

James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the HUMBLE.

1 Peter 5:5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the HUMBLE.

Prov. 3:34 Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the LOWLY.

Deut. 5 Mos 7:9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS to a thousand generations;

2 King 8:23 And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that WALK BEFORE THEE with all their heart:

2 Chron. 30:9 For if ye turn again unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, IF YE RETURN unto him.

Neh 1:5 And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that LOVE HIM AND OBSERVE HIS COMMANDMENTS

Ps 103:17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that FEAR HIM, and his righteousness unto children’s children;

Jer 3:12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, RETURN, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.

Amos 5:15 HATE THE EVIL, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

Either we can work ourselves up to a point of salvation OR we are saved by God’s grace and mercy. It’s one or the other. Since none of us have obeyed the law perfectly, we are saved by grace. But does the fact that God cleanses us from our sins mean it’s ok for us to continue in sin? Of course not. Then we would be defiled and unrighteous yet again.

Luke 6:36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

We are to be merciful the way our Father is merciful, but if he is only merciful to SOME (the elect), wouldn’t this mean that we too can choose to be merciful to SOME people? The Bible says that Jesus died for all of us and we should always be prepared to be merciful to our neighbors. This doesn’t mean we should throw pearls to swine because we too can set up conditions. God has mercy on who he will have mercy, but this should not be interpreted as though he does this unconditionally or arbitrarily. God can set up his own rules, and if God decides to show mercy on whoever believes in him and love him, he is entitled to enforce this rule. He can also decide to show NO mercy to an individual who shows no mercy himself.

Romans 9:¹⁸Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

James 2:13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

There is none righteous who seeks after God as per Romans 3:10?

Apr5

Rom. 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

Paul, who made the above statement that no one is righteous, called HIMSELF righteous, along with Silas and Timothy, and he constantly requested that people should avoid obeying their flesh.

1 Thess. 2:10 Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and UNNBLAMEABLY we behaved ourselves among you that believe

Acts. 23:1 And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day. (NASB: “perfectly good conscience”)

To make Romans 3:10-11 a blanket statement about all mankind in all ages is to make the Scriptures to be in contradiction. The Bible says that we are created precisely TO SEEK GOD.

Acts 17:26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;²⁷THAT THEY SHOULD SEEK THE LORD, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, THOUGH HE BE NOT FAR FROM EVERY ONE OF US.

Jer. 29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart

Matt. 6:³³But SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you

Romans 3:10-11 is a reference to a few psalms, and they must be read in context. In those psalms you will find references of people who are righteous, as a contrast to those who are not (the foolish ones). Below is what Paul says in Romans 3, and note that he says “as it is written”, which means that we should check “what is written” so that we will understand his reason for quoting these psalms in that particular moment.

Rom. 3:⁹What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; ¹⁰As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: ¹¹There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. ¹²They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. ¹³Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: ¹⁴Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: ¹⁵Their feet are swift to shed blood: ¹⁶Destruction and misery are in their ways: ¹⁷And the way of peace have they not known: ¹⁸There is no fear of God before their eyes.

With his comments Paul is referring to something that is written in the scriptures and below are the psalms he is quoting from. Notice that it is the FOOL who says in his heart that there is no God, and THEY (the fools) are corrupt. We can also read about RIGHTEOUS people, and they are the ones who use God as their refuge, who worship him and who desire to be led by him:

Psalm 14:¹THE FOOL hath said in his heart, There is no God. THEY are corrupt, THEY have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. ²The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. ³They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. ⁴Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD. ⁵There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the RIGHTEOUS. ⁶Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge. ⁷Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. (See also Psalm 53)

Psalm 53:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.2 God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.3 Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God.5 There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them.

Another psalm of interest:

Psalm 5:⁴For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. ⁵THE FOOLISH shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all WORKERS OF INIQUITY. ⁶Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man. ⁷But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple. ⁸Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face. ⁹For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue. ¹⁰Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee. ¹¹But let all THOSE THAT PUT THEIR TRUST IN THEE rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. ¹²For thou, LORD, wilt bless the RIGHTEOUS; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.

Examples of some righteous people, who were righteous because they showed their faith by their DEEDS

Gen 6:9 This is the account of Noah. Noah was a RIGHTEOUS man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.

Hebr. 11:⁷By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

Ja. 2:²¹Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

Hebr. 7:⁸By 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.

2 Peter 2:⁷And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:⁸(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)

Matt. 1:19 Because Joseph her husband was a RIGHTEOUS man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

Luke 2:25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was RIGHTEOUS and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

Matt. 23:35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of RIGHTEOUS Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

Unbelievers can DO good and are requested to BE good

Every time someone decides to not murder or steal, it is surely a good thing before the Lord. The Prodigal son was spiritually lost and DEAD, and yet he could still choose to act wisely, and he made a good moral decision to repent and to return to his Father.

Matt. 7:11 If ye then, being EVIL, know how to give GOOD gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

Acts 28:And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita.²And the BARBAROUS PEOPLE shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold.

1 Cor. 14:24 But if an UNBELIEVER or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, 25and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming,“GOD IS REALLY AMONG YOU!”

Ja. 4:¹⁷Therefore to him that KNOWETH to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

Rom. 2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: ¹⁵Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another)

The Bible is loaded with verses which show that we are expected to seek God

Deuteronomy 4:29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

1 Chronicles 22:19 Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God; arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the LORD God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the LORD.

1 Chronicles 28:9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

2 Chronicles 11:16 And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the LORD God of their fathers.

2 Chronicles 14:4 And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the law and the commandment

2 Chronicles 15:4 But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.

2 Chronicles 15:12-13 12 And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; 13 That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.

2 Chronicles 19:3 Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.

2 Chronicles 30:19 That prepareth his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary.

2 Chronicles 31:21 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.

2 Chronicles 34:3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.

Ezra 6:21 And the children of Israel, which were come again out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land, to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat,

Ezra 8:21-22 21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance. 22 For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.

Psalm 10:4 The WICKED, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

Psalm 63:1 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

Psalm 69:6 Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.

Psalm 70:4 Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say continually, LetGod be magnified.

Isaiah 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts.

Isaiah 58:2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.

Daniel 9:3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:

Hosea 3:5 Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

Amos 5:14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Warnings, conditions and commands that we must cleanse ourselves

Jeremiah 4:14 Wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved

Ezekiel 18:31 Make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die…

James 4:8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded

Romans 12:²And 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.

Luke 12:35 Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning

Hebrews 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without HOLINESS no one will see the Lord.

Philippians 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye 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.

2 Peter 1:⁵And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; ⁶And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; ⁷And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. ⁸For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. ¹⁰Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: ¹¹For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and FOLLOW me.”

15 verses about law and grace you didn’t know were in the Bible

Apr3

15 verses about law and grace you didn’t know were in the Bible

1) Romans 3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission OF SINS THAT ARE PAST, through the forbearance of God;

2) James 2:24 Ye see then how that BY WORKS A MAN IS JUSTIFIED, and NOT by faith only.

3) Phil 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye 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

4) Rom 2:13 For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but THE DOERS OF THE LAW SHALL BE JUSTIFIED

5) 1 John 3:6. WHOSOEVER ABIDETH IN HIM SINNETH NOT: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.

6) Matt 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, AND SHALL TEACH MEN SO, he shall be called THE LEAST in the kingdom of heaven: butwhosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called GREAT in the kingdom of heaven.

7) Titus 2:12 (God’s grace) TEACHING US that, DENYING UNGODLINESS and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, IN THIS PRESENT WORLD;

8) Acts 5:32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also THE HOLY GHOST, WHOM GOD HATH GIVEN TO THEM THAT OBEY HIM

9) James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but GIVETH GRACE TO THE HUMBLE (a condition)

10) John 15:10. IF YE KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS, YE SHALL ABIDE IN MY LOVE; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

11) 1 Cor 7:19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, BUT THE KEEPING OF THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD

12) Rom. 3:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, WE ESTABLISH THE LAW

13) James 2:21 Was not Abraham our father JUSTIFIED BY WORKS, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?

14) Hebr. 10:29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath TRODDEN UNDER FOOT THE SON OF GOD, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, WHEREWITH HE WAS SANCTIFIED, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?

15) Rom 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, WHO WALK NOT AFTER THE FLESH , BUT AFTER THE SPIRIT

15 verses/claims you thought were in the Bible

1) All men are born with a sinful nature since we have inherited Adam’s sin

2) Once saved always saved

3) God loves us unconditionally

4) Jesus righteousness has been transferred to us, so the Father can’t see our sins but only the blood of Jesus

5) When we repent our past, present and future sins are forgiven

6) Do not judge! – any one at any time!

7) FAITH ALONE is what saves us, and works have nothing to do with our salvation

8) We are no longer under the Law, so obeying the ten commandments is no longer necessary even if they are good to obey so we don’t get reduced gifts in heaven

9) We all sin constantly in thoughts, words and deeds

10) The grace of God is free, unmerited and can’t be forfeited

11) If you could stop sinning you wouldn’t need Jesus

12) The problem with the pharisees was that they focused too much on the Law and obeyed it too much

13) Jesus paid for our sins, took our sins on himself and became sinful on the cross, hence the wrath of the God the Father was upon him

14) He sinned quite severely? Then “he wasn’t saved to begin with”

15) Christians are taken out of the world before the great tribulation

The fear of the Lord and holy living

Apr2

Our unpopular message for the day

So many Christians are compromising these days! It is not very popular to make a stand for holy living. You become “self righteous” to many by doing so. It is a sad fact that many are falling while truly believing everything is just fine, because they hold a knowledge of God within them.

“Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” 2 Corinthians 6:17

Unfortunately, too many people have been deceived to think they can have their sin and be a Christian at the same time. These lack wisdom! And the Bible tells us in Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom …” And that is just it. People do not fear God, and therefore they have no wisdom to lead them. So they naturally turn to fleshly pleasures while trying to convince everyone that they are Christians.

2 Timothy 3:1-5
1This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

Do you allow sin in your life while trying to convince everyone that it isn’t all that bad? Do you claim to be a Christian because of a knowledge of the truth, with a form of godliness, but denying the power of it to free you completely from this world and its sins? The good news is that Jesus can set you free! There is great joy in separating ourselves from this world! It can only come by the Holy Spirit as He fills us and transforms us, making us new creatures that are set apart from the rest of this world. If you look like the world; talk like the world; act like the world; and live like the world; then you are of the world and cannot be of Christ – no matter how much you may think you are. The form of godliness is a great deception of these last days! So many believe they are right with God, but are not! The Bible says in Isaiah 5:20

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”

This is exactly what so many “Christians” are doing today. They will go out drinking, smoking, partying like the world, and then claim they do it in moderation. Many will cuss up a storm, get involved in bitter arguments, gossip, slander of others, and act lie the world in every way – never living according the the fruit of the spirit. When confronted about there sinful living, they will accuse the righteous person of being full of pride, self righteous, and judgmental. Some will go as far as to think they are more spiritual in their drinking and smoking, as they are more tolerable of sinners, and they are not so “self-righteous”. They are more mature Christians and able to handle doing those things. Hogwash! It is time to rise up people of God! It is time to stand for what is right! Start with your own life. Start with your family. Be an example for others to follow. Share the love of God and the good life He offers through holy living. Otherwise, sin lies at your door – Genesis 4:7.

We are in a spiritual warfare! This is a war that is unseen in the natural, so that those who drift away from Christ cannot even see it is happening all around them. All the while thinking they are right with God because of what they once had, they slip away into the darkness of the enemy. Don’t ever think you are so spiritual you cannot be overtaken! Our ONLY hope is in Christ jesus alone. Look to Him and search your own heart in humility.

“The fear of the LORD teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor.” Proverbs 15:33

Many Christians today are not necessarily sinning, but they are playing with a strange fire, and then offering it up to the Lord. What do we offer to Him? Is it holy or strange? Paul said that we need to examine ourselves whether we be in the Lord. Never assume it! But let us examine our own hearts as we look for the deception in our own minds that has been planted by the enemy.

Righteousness is not a gift, nor is it something we work for. It is a choice. A choice to walk in what he has provided for us. But we have a choice set before us, as it says in Deuteronomy 30:19, “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live”.
John dealt with the issue of sin and said in 1 John 5:18, “We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.” Then in 1 john 3:3-10

3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.
5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.
6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
8 He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.
10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

So, I am not talking about new converts who have not yet been sanctified. I am talking about seasoned Christians who after years of living holy lives slowly begin to turn back to sinful living while claiming to be saved. This is very dangerous territory!

When Jesus said, “It is finished”, He was not saying that sin no longer had any power to condemn. Obviously many sinners are still going to hell. Paul’s said in Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is death. Nothing changes this. Not even the work of Christ. The gift of God that is eternal life is through Christ Jesus. To be IN Christ is to walk in the spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Paul said that if we sow to the flesh, we will reap of the flesh corruption. He also said that if we defile the temple of God, which we are, then such people will God destroy. Many, many more warnings are given to Christians all throughout the scriptures to be careful and always check our hearts, lest will fall. In Romans 11:21 Paul said, “For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.” Obviously, we are not in the clear just because Jesus died for our sins and we are presently saved.

We cannot miss the good news in this message, which is that God will cast our sins as far as the east is from the west and remember them no more. But we need to understand that this ONLY refers to past sins that have been confessed through repentance, and not to present or future sins. No scripture says anything close to the idea of future sins being cover under our first repentance. It is not an issue of being completely sinless. We know that is not possible. It is an issue of not committing sins we know are wrong, and thus being in rebellion to God – which the bible says is as the sin of witchcraft. And we know that no witch will be saved. But as we turn to Him after we have examined our lives and allow Him to purify our lives, we will be transformed, becoming new creatures. And such a creature will hate sin as much as God does and will want nothing to do with it.

James spoke of a sin unto death and a sin not unto death. The sin not unto death are those little things that we are not aware of that are buried deep within and only pop up on certain occasions. These are a part of our spiritual growth. A sin unto death is a sin of rebellion, when we do something we know is wrong but just don’t care. We can try to justify and deceive ourselves, and then our conscience can be seared – causing us to think all is fine, when in fact we are backslidden in heart.

Jesus will take us just the way we are – no doubt! But He will not keep us the way were are. This is what being “born again” is all about. We start a new life in christ and we are transformed as it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17. The old is passed away, and all becomes new.

What married couple will say that because they are married they do not need to work on their relationship, but that their married alone makes the relationship? This kind of marriage is one that winds up in divorce. Their is always work involved in a relationship. a relations takes two parties both working together to make it work. We know God is always faithful to do His part in this. His part is never in question! It is our part that has to be questioned. Are we talking to Him? Are we listening to Him? Are we submitting to Him? Or are we doing our own thing and then calling it a relationship?

Any person who allows sin in their life needs to fell bad, low, and unworthy. This is called conviction. This is not condemnation. However, the bible does that that those who live in sin are condemned already. The great hope is that Jesus came to set men free. And He who the Son sets free is free indeed! He came to take away the guilt, to lift up our spirits, and to make us worthy! It is only in Him that we can have all of these things. If we turn to sin, we are not turning to Him. And if we are not turning to Him, then we cannot have what He offers – which is freedom from sin. This is not a superficial freedom, and a real life changing freedom. How we live our lives is a direct expression of what Christ has done and is doing in our lives. And this is something He has put in our own power to receive and walk in, or to reject and walk away from.

The original lie of Satan was to tell Eve, “You shall not surely die as God has said”.

The same lie exists in the Church today as many will teach that you shall not surely die (spiritually) as God has said. That sin has completely lost its power to damn the soul of the Christian to hell. Sin has not lost its power! Sin still brings death! But the gift of God is eternal life through CHRIST JESUS. Not a one-time confession, but a daily confession through an obedient walk in the spirit.

There is plenty of good news to put behind this entire message. But it is all in Christ Jesus alone! It is not in a doctrine. It is not in a one-time confession of sins. It is not in a previous relationship with Him. It is in a continued walk with Him, in obedience to His commands, as we are “free indeed” from sin and the walk of the flesh. He is ever present to make intercession for us. But we must be willing to confess our sins so He can do that.

In Romans Paul makes it clear that if it had not been for the law then we would not know right and wrong. Jesus said that He did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. It is in Christ that we receive power of sin and to live holy lives. Law is fulfilled in us as we walk in the spirit and do not fulfill the lists of the flesh.

Jesus took away the burden of animal sacrifice and penalty for sins in this life. Now, through Him, we have access to the throne of grace, whereby we may receive forgiveness of sins. But forgiveness can only come through repentance. We know that true repentance means to turn ourback on our past sins. This is a choice we have to make. And as we make the choice, God gives us the ability to overcome. Repentance of sins is first of all an act of obedience. And Jesus said, “if you love me, keep my commandments”. Jesus has done the work! But He leaves the choice up to men whether they will follow and obey His commandments. If we do not obey His commandments then we are denying Him. We are saying we do not trust Him or believe in what He said in His Word. And if we deny Him, He will deny us before His father in heaven. Our lives must be a walk of faith or we cannot please Him.

‎[Live] as children of obedience [to God]; do not conform yourselves to the evil desires [that governed you] in your former ignorance [when you did not know the requirements of the Gospel]. 1 Peter 1: 14

If anyone serves Me, he must continue to follow Me [to cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying] and wherever I am, there will My servant be also. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. John 12: 26

It is through Him that we have received grace and [our] apostleship to promote obedience to the faith and make disciples for His name’s sake among all the nations. Romans 1: 5

Do you not know that if you continually surrender yourselves to anyone to do his will, you are the slaves of him whom you obey, whether that be to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience which leads to righteousness (right doing and right standing with God)? Romans 6: 16

If you keep My commandments [if you continue to obey My instructions], you will abide in My love and live on in it, just as I have obeyed My Father’s commandments and live on in His love. John 15: 10

But He said, Blessed (happy and to be envied) rather are those who hear the Word of God and obey and practice it! Luke 11: 28

For as the human body apart from the spirit is lifeless, so faith apart from [its] works of obedience is also dead. James 2: 26

But now we are discharged from the Law and have terminated all intercourse with it, having died to what once restrained and held us captive. So now we serve not under [obedience to] the old code of written regulations, but [under obedience to the promptings] of the Spirit in newness [of life]. Romans 7: 6
For the time [has arrived] for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will [be] the end of those who do not respect or believe or obey the good news (the Gospel) of God? 1 Peter 4: 17

And we receive from Him whatever we ask, because we [watchfully] obey His orders [observe His suggestions and injunctions, follow His plan for us] and [habitually] practice what is pleasing to Him. 1 John 3: 22

Whoever says, I know Him [I perceive, recognize, understand, and am acquainted with Him] but fails to keep and obey His commandments (teachings) is a liar, and the Truth [of the Gospel] is not in him.
1 John 2: 4

[Live] as children of obedience [to God]; do not conform yourselves to the evil desires [that governed you] in your former ignorance [when you did not know the requirements of the Gospel]. 1 Peter 1: 14

The wise in heart will accept and obey commandments, but the foolish of lips will fall headlong. Proverbs 10: 8

Since by your obedience to the Truth through the [Holy ] Spirit you have purified your hearts for the sincere affection of the brethren, [see that you] love one another fervently from a pure heart. 1 Peter 1: 22

Jesus said that no man can serve two masters. The devil is a thief who has come to steal, kill, and destroy. He cannot steal what one does not have. Sinners have nothing he wants to take or end in their lives. It is Christians he is after. He wants to steal our peace and joy and the abundant life we have in Christ; he wants to kill us spiritually; and then it is his final hope to destroy our souls in hell if he can. Many have been deceived into thinking they can serve two masters and still be okay. If this was an easy thing to see, then it would not be a deception. People who call themselves Christians and even go to Church every week are perishing in the pews of the Church. This is because they live like the world during the week, and with this deception have come to believe that they are saved all along.

As much as we would like to strip satan of all his power, and claim that he has be completely defeated by the work of Christ, this simply is not at all what the scriptures teach us. He is only defeated for those who abide in Christ, walk in the spirit, and obey Him daily as they take up their cross and follow Him. But satan is hard at work for a few different reasons. One, because he knows he only has a short time to get his job done. Second, it the fact that he knows he is able to deceive even Christians and pull them away from a walk with Christ. Otherwise he would be totally wasting his time and efforts to no avail.

Not too many Christians are going to take the bait of blatant heresy and lies. If they knew they were lies then they would turn away immediately! But satan is very slick at what he does. He will make sin appear to be “not so bad”, as it sucks the spiritual life out of people without them even realizing it. This is why Jesus told us to be watchful, be on the guard, to beware, and to diligently seek Him. The bible says that satan walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Obviously this is not referring to sinners. He already has them. It is Christians he is after. He is looking for those who have put their guard down; who have lain down their spiritual armor. This is why we need to go thru our spiritual armor check list and make sure we have it and keep it on all the time. Satan is looking for the one he can catch off guard. And then he will come in subtly so that we do not even realize it is him.

This is why Paul said that when you think that you stand, take heed, lest you fall. An overconfidence in the work of Christ without doing our part will lead to spiritual death. We can believe we are saved all we want. But faith without works is dead! We can have COMPLETE confidence in the work of Christ – as long as we walk in obedience to His will and commands. But if we allow sin to creep in, then death lies at the door. Faith then becomes nothing more than a presumption, without any true power to save. And just as the devils in hell believe and cannot be saved, so it is with those who claim Christ and willfully and in rebellion live in sin.

All the promises we have are “in Christ”. We must understand what it means to be in Christ. It is not a one time prayer that magically transfers us from death to life without any further conditions. It is a transformed life! The old is passed away, and all is become new. So as John said, we no long live in sin, but we walk in the spirit and by true faith thru obedience.

Through Jesus Christ we are no longer under the condemnation of the law?

Let’s not forget one major thing here. We must be “in Christ” in order to be free from these things. The devil is given back his rights the moment we give in to willful sin and do not repent. The cross DID NOT disarm him! It is only through our faith in the cross that he can be disarmed. And just as we can have faith, we can lose faith. This is a fact that has be proven to be true with many backsliders.

The Bible does not teach a sin debt. It teaches “wages of sin”. Wages are earnings, not a debt. We have earned death for our sin. Christ came to die as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. But not as a literal payment. This term should only be understood as a figurative term to say that Christ took care of the sin issue on our behalf. The literal understanding of what Christ did can only be properly understood as a provision for forgiveness. When John saw Jesus coming to be baptized, he announced, “Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”. Now we know that Jesus has not literally taken away the sins of all men. Otherwise all men would be saved already without any conditions. This actually points back to the Levitical sacrifices for the sins of Israel, as two goats were brought. One was just a sacrifice unto the Lord, while the other was the one who had sins confessed over it and it was released into the wilderness. Some believe it was led to a cliff to fall to its death. But either way it was not punished for sins, nor did it “pay” for sins. What this was is a picture of the true atonement that was to come through Christ as men are being born again through faith in the sacrifice of Christ. Then as Paul said, the old is passed away and all things become new. When we are transformed in such a supernatural way, our old life of sin passes away, and we enter into a new life of faith and holiness in Christ. If we sin, we deny this power to free us from sin, and thus deny Christ.

Sin really is not the issue at all. It is only the symptom. The root of the problem is never the sin, but a matter of our faith. If we truly walk by faith, then we will be walking in the spirit, and we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.

James, in the first chapter says this: 14. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
15. Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death.

You see, sin still brings death. Only a true Christian who walks by faith can later be “drawn away and enticed”. The end result of sin is and always will be death. The wages of sin IS death, and always will be. So it is our responsibility to discipline our own lives to make sure we make wise decisions and do not give in to the lusts of the flesh – as they can and will bring death.
There is no doubt that Satan will bring condemnation upon us for past sins that we have been forgiven of. It is at this time that we need to realize he is a liar and all that is under the blood of Jesus and cast away. But present and future sins are a completely different issue. No sin is automatically forgiven just because we are Christians.

In Hebrews 10:26 we are told, “For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins.”

So obviously sin still has the power to harm the Christian. “No more sacrifice” here does not mean that there can be no future forgiveness, or that the sacrifice of Christ is not sufficient. This means that the confession of a past sin in which we trusted in the sacrifice of Christ cannot cover future sins committed – without another act of repentance on our part. The work of Christ is finished! But it does not cover unrepented sins, or else the entire world would be saved. Sin is only the symptom of a much deeper issue taking place in a persons heart. And if it goes undealt with, then their soul is in danger just like the rest of the world who is in their sins. And If Christ conquered sin in the way you are saying, then sinners should not need to repent to be saved. Since sin has lost its power, all they need to do is believe in Him and believe they are save, and they can continue in their sins. All is good.

Christianity is done done done, not do do do?

What Christ did for us is only on the sacrificial and provision part. It is man’s part to believe, continue, abide, follow, trust, walk in the spirit, etc. So many commands are given it is incredible. This is not about “works salvation” as many like to try to make it. This is about truly trusting in His work. A true faith will have a direct affect on the way we will our lives every day. But we are able to lose that faith through lust, which leads to sin. This is why we are told we must take up our cross and follow Him daily, crucify the old man, and walk in the spirit so we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Such instruction is given because of the absolute certain possibility or probability of falling from Grace and forfeiting the life we once had in Christ.

We are not talking about working on our own. We are talking about having true faith in His work, which leads to holiness and a separation from sin. Sin is only the works of the flesh that show where we are spiritually. Just as the fruit of the spirit shows where we are spiritually. Jesus said, “You shall know them by their fruit”. How a person lives shows where their heart really is. And if it is after sin, the father of sin is then their master. As the scripture says in Romans 6:16, “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey-either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?”

Any person who turns to sin is doing what the devil wants, and he becomes their master. I am not talking about sins we commit now and then, and then repent. I am talking about habitual sins that people try to justify. And notice the word “Obey” here? We are only considered the servant of God if we obey Him!

Romans 3:25, “Whom God hath set forth to be an atoning sacrifice through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.”

Only past sins can be forgiven. Present sins have not godly sorrow if they remain. And future sins – lets get real. If I slug a brother in the face and I say I am sorry and ask him to forgive me – does that mean that if I do the same thing every now and then that he should automatically forgive me each time without me ever being truly sorry? Or if I punch him today, but tomorrow I steal from him, should my stealing be forgiven because I asked for forgiveness for punching him? Yet this is what this idea says of God and salvation. Sin has offended God. He is holy and He cannot be in the presence of sin. If men want to abide in His presence, then they have to separate themselves from sin. The work of Christ in no way changes who God is. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. And He see’s sin in the same way as always. Having law or doing away with it changed nothing. Men sinned and offended God long before the law came. God judged Cain, He flooded the earth in Noah’s day, He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, and so much more before the law ever came along. So after law we cannot expect Him to have any different of an attitude towards sin. Sin is not covered up. It MUST be removed from us through the work of Christ, and by repentance. If it isn’t it will damn the soul. This is just a simple Biblical fact. It was taught by the early Church very boldly for hundreds of years – before the corruption by the Catholic Church. It is a truth that we must take heed to today. This is why Paul said that when you stand, take heed lest you fall. Sin still has the power to destroy the soul. We are completely safe “In Christ”. But if we step across the line into sin, we give up our protection.

“John 1:29 29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! that word sin is a noun ( person place thing), John knew that Jesus came to take sin the whole thing from the world, it doesnt say who comes to take away the past sin of the world, current sin of the world, but “SIN of the world” What a waste of time it would have been to have God send His only Son Jesus to do a work like that,”

As already mentioned, atonement is a provision, not a literal payment. And sin is not a substance that can be literally removed. It is an issue of heart that has to be changed. The figurative always leads to a literal meaning different than the figure itself. This is why we must be “born again”, which we know is not a literal entering back into the womb, but a new life in Christ that starts as we are changed – transformed. So of course not part of the sin of the world is taken away – because it is not talking about a substance of sin, but an issue of heart that is changed when a person puts their faith in Jesus. And this can only happen when there is faith in Christ. The sins of millions will take them to hell still, regardless the work of Christ. So did Christ’s work fail or fall short? Of course not. It is men who failed to not put their faith in Him. Jesus dies for ALL sins, past, present and future. But forgiveness of these sins can ONLY come through repentance of them. And until there is repentance, there is not forgiveness or taking away of sins – since the heart of the person has not been change when they continue to sin.

“He who the son sets free is free indeed”

Absolutely! But what is freedom? It is not freedom in sin, but freedom FROM sin. Huge difference here. There is not “freedom” in sin. That is called bondage. The word “indeed” is like an exclamation point on the “free”. This shows it to not be a superficial freedom from the power of sin to condemn while still committing sin, but a real and complete freedom from both sins power, effect, and existence in our lives. In Romans 6 Paul made it clear that sin will no longer have dominion over those who are in Christ and remain in Him. A true freedom from sin is the completely changed life where sin no longer has any controlling power. If we do sin, we will confess that sin. But we will not live under it.

I wrote a book called, “Faith without Works” years ago that is full of hundreds of scriptures against this doctrine. Since then I had studied and read through the early Church writings that had proven what they really believed on the issue, confirming everything I am saying here. Then after that I did an in-depth study and research on the Levitical sacrificial system and how it pointed to the work of Christ. It is from false ideas of atonement that so many false teachings arise. But this work shows through the sacrificial system how sin has always been the issue with God, and that Christ took care of it in the provisional sense – but not as a payment as so many assume. The Bible does not teach a payment in the literal sense at all. The fact that WE are bought does not speak of sin, and it is figurative – as no money was exchanged or deal made between Satan our old master and Jesus our Atonement. It is through the OT that the NT is revealed. Yet so many try to teach atonement from the NT perspective without understand the OT system. When we really look into the OT, then we can see what atonement is really all about in Christ. And now, it is by faith that we are able to obtain Grace, as we confess Him and our sins in repentance as the people were told by Peter in Acts 2:38. A one-time repentance can never cover future sins! This is been show by scripture and simple logic.

Thanks to LYNDON CONN

The difference between the Sheep and the Goats in the parable, is what they DID and DIDN’T DO

Feb18

Jesus says in John 5:29 that at the resurrection those who have done good will get LIFE and those who have done evil will get damnation. James, Paul, John and Peter say the same thing.

John. 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, ²⁹And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

James. 2:13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

Rom 8:¹³For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him 24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.

1 Pet 2:11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the SOUL;

What we DO makes the difference whether we will be able to enter God’s kingdom or not (even if we of course must believe that Jesus is God who has come in the flesh and that he has died as a sin offering and cleansed us from our sins with his blood). The Bible is filled with commands that we must DO things to be saved (not lose salt, go through the narrow gate, endure to the end, carry our cross daily, etc) and this might be surprising for us in Scandinavia, because we have been influenced by Martin Luther to a great deal. He was a person who didn’t take much delight in the book of James (according to his own words) where he could read things such as:

James. 2:²⁰But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? ²¹Was not Abraham our fathered by faith alone” even though the Bible says we’re not saved by faith alone.

We tend to believe that if we must DO anything at all to be saved, then it is “works salvation” and the biggest theological error under the sun (and a sin). Naturally we can’t save ourselves, because we are all in need of cleansing in the blood of Jesus, and we can’t earn our salvation by anything we do or believe, but there are still conditions for our salvation and that is to believe, repent and obey God. This is something that we must DO. Matthew 25 contains three parables that all have the point that what we DO affect our final destination – heaven or hell. This might be referred to as heresy in the Church today, but the Bible disagrees. Read the parable between the sheep and the goats. Both the sheep and the goats believed in the one they communicated with – Jesus – and also demons accept that Jesus is the son of God and even confess this out loud! This won’t save them, which is James’ point. (Not that demons are angels and can’t be saved, because the subject in James 2 is “Deeds”.) Faith without deeds is dead.

The final judgment

Matthew 25:31When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42For I was an hungred, andye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43I was a stranger, andye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

The difference between the sheep and the goats is therefore what they DO. The sheep end up on the right side, and they are the ones that have done something good (righteousness), and the goats end up on the left side, and they are the ones that have neglected to do something good. They have NOT shown compassion and mercy. Lack of fruit can hinder us from entering the kingdom of God. We can read this in John 15 where the branches are cut off and thrown in the fire due to lack of fruit. We are not saved by merely believing in a “package”. We could compare with the angels in the beginning of the creation. I don’t believe they had a problem to “believe in God”, or to accept him as their Creator. Still, we can read that 1/3 of them fell when they followed Lucifer on his wicked ways. It was once again what they DID which affected the continuation of the story – in the future they will be thrown in the lake of fire which was prepared for them from the beginning of the world, due to their deeds.

The other parables in Matthew 25 are the well known parables of the ten virgins and the one about the talents. All the ten virgins “believed” in the bride groom and waited for his arrival. What they DID and DIDN’T DO made all the difference for what happened next. They all had lamps, but half of the girls had chosen to not bring any extra oil even though this might be needed. We can see that it probably concerned spare oil since the foolish girls said the lamps are “gone out”. This means the lamps had previously given light, but they did not endure to the end due to lack of oil. We are told by Jesus that we must endure to the end to be saved! The wise girls had chosen to bring some spare oil with them which was a good choice. Our choices make the difference! Also the parable with the Talents shows that our choices and our actions affect the outcome of things, and also here we can see that it concerns eternal life (with various rewards) or eternal damnation.

I know that I write a lot about repentance and righteousness in my blog, and that is because these topics are neither that common, nor popular, despite that they are very important subjects because they concern our SOULS. The devil’s only goal is to make us SIN so that we won’t be able to enter God’s kingdom. He tempts us and tries to provide us with excuses to sin. I believe the devil wants to reassure us that we can be saved by faith alone with no deeds, and that sin will not separate us from God. Wouldn’t it be horrible if he managed to deceive us into thinking “What a relief that God loves me just the way I am, and that he views me as righteous despite that I live unrighteously at times, and that it’s enough to BELIEVE in him to be saved” IF this is not true? Just imagine if we on Judgment Day would have to say…“Oops!”

1 Peter 4:18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

Who are Jesus sheep, and who are the goats? – Matt. 25 parable

Dec25

We have a choice whether we would like to be a Jesus SHEEP or not, and we also have a choice whether we would like to remain his sheep to the very end. At no point do we lose our free will. Let’s see what the Bible says about sheep.

Joshua was supposed to be like a shepherd to israel, but we know that despite of this important task directly from God, all israel did not obey Joshua or God’s commandments:

Numbers 27:14For ye rebelled against My commandment in the Desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify Me at the water before their eyes.” (That is, the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin.) 15And Moses spoke unto the LORD, saying, 16″Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, 17who may go out before them and who may go in before them and who may lead them out and who may bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd.” 18And the LORD said unto Moses, “Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay thine hand upon him; 19and set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and give him a charge in their sight. 20And thou shalt put some of thine honor upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient.

Despite of being God’s sheep, israel could cause God to anger due to their rebellion, and they were told to not harden their hearts. We can read that God was GRIEVED when they provoced him, tempted him and erred in their own hearts. We all make God grieve when we walk our own ways instead of his way.

Psalm 74:1 O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?

Psalm 95:6O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. 7For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, 8Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. 10Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: 11Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.

We can read also in Isaiah that God has reasons to be angry and to show his wrath against a wicked people, who show much evil, arrogancy, pride and haughtiness – totally against his will. Sheep are compared with people who walk their own ways. Sheep often go astray but that is never the purpose of the shepherd. The shepherd would prefer that his sheep were always close by to pay attention to him and obey him.

Isaiah 13:11And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. 12I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. 13Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. 14And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.

Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Matthew 26:31 Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.

Jeremiah tells us about God’s people – his sheep israel – who unfortunately have been scattered due to false shepherds who have caused them to go astray. They have turned away and forgotten their restingplace. There is always a risk that “wolves in sheep’s clothing” can cause sheep to go astray, and sometimes these wolves don’t even need sheep’s clothing to cause people to err. The risk of being lost applies even if the sheep belong to God himself. God is powerful enough to “keep” his sheep, and God could easily cause all sheep (people) in the whole world to be his for good, but that would interfere with our free will which God prefers that we have. WE are responsible for making sure to abide to the true shepherd, and we are warned about false pastors which could cause us to go astray if we are not on our guard.

Jeremiah 23:1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.

Jeremiah 50:6 My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace.

Jeremiah 50:17 Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones.

Ezekiel makes an interesting prophesy about shepherds (and God’s own shepherds!) who have not been doing their job to take care of the sheep as God expects them to do, but instead they have kept feeding themselves. Ezekiel lists several things which these shepherds have failed to do, with the result that the sheep have become prey and scattered all over the earth. But God promises to step in sometime in the future, and take over. God will JUDGE the shepherds, because they have acted against God’s will and they are responsible for their neglect to take care of the flock. God will also judge between the flock itself, because not only are shepherds responsible for taking care of their sheep, but the sheep are responsible for listening to the shepherds.

Ezekiel 34:2—Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? 3Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. 4The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. 5And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. 6My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them. 7Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; 8As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock; 9Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD; 10Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them. 11For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. 12As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. 13And 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. —16I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment. 17And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats. 18Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet? 19And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet. 20Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle.21Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad

Jesus tells his disciples that he will be sending them as sheep among wolves, and warns them therefore that they must be wise. They are warned they must beware of men, because they could certainly interfere and harm them. Jesus tells his own believing disciples that they will be hated for his name’s sake but he that endures to the end shall be saved. Jesus didn’t give his sheep fake and meaningless warnings but in Matt 10:16–22 he explains to his disciples that they must be on their guard because of a real danger that lies ahead of them. If they don’t stay strong, they risk going astray and become lost. This is the opposite from saying “you will be safe no matter what because you’re my sheep”. There is no reason to tell people to beware of false prophets if they can never go astray.

Matthew 10:16Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. 17But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;— 22And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

In Luke we can read:

Luke 15:4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

But this doesn’t mean the man absolutely WILL find the sheep. It just means that he will never give up as long as their is a hope, just like a mother who will never give up on her lost child. The Father of the prodigal son never gave up on his lost son, but he didnt go out and force him to return. In Matthew we can read the same parable, but here we can read “IF so be that he finds it”, meaning that it’s not certain. IF a person repents from his sins, there will be lots of joy in heaven! We can read that the Father does not want ONE of those little one to perish. Jesus also gives very serious warnings concerning sins. He says that it’s better to pluck our eye out if it causes us to sin, so that we can escape HELL. He doesn’t say born again christians are excempted from this danger but he actually addresses his disciples, and all of us. Jesus came to save that which is LOST which would be all who have been guilty of sin, which are all who are aware of the law. Also read the parable which Matthew 18 ends with. A servant is cleansed from his debt (sins) and should have been a forever “forgiven sheep” of this King, but later the same already forgiven debt is put back on his shoulders once again when he (the servant) refuses to forgive another servant. The parable ends with declaring “35So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses”. This again, is a warning to all of us. God’s born again sheep are not excempted from this danger, but there is a risk that we refuse to forgive another person and thus jeopardize our salvation.

Matthew 18:9And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. 10Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. 11For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. 12How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? 13And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. 14Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish..

Matthew 25 tells us about 5 foolish maids/virgins who forgot to bring enough oil with them to their lamps while waiting for the bride groom. This was their own responsibility, and had they acted like the other 5 virgins who brought enough oil with them, they would have been “sheep”, and they would not have been lost. We can also read about another parable about various amounts of talents, and about our own responsibility to make a high profit to present to the Owner. The rest of Matthew 25 tells us who the sheep are, as compared with the goats. The Bible doesn’t say “once sheep, always sheep”, but if we endure to the end we will be among the saved. Matthew 25 makes it clear that God’s sheep are those who DO GOOD. Many of us have been indoctrinated to believe that doing something (works) has nothing to do with our salvation, but it certainly does according to the Bible. We can forfeit our salvation if we refuse to show compassion with people around us, and neglect to DO GOOD towards them. This is again a serious warning to all of us. Some might suggest that sheep will naturally always do good, and goats will not, but this is certainly not always the case. It’s true that doing good should come very natural for a sheep, but unfortunately this is not always true. The sheep and the goats are not divided between those who believe in Jesus and those who do not, but among those who do good and those who do not. This is about fruit. YOU decide whether you are a sheep or a goat, and you show this with what you do. Sins will always place you among the goats, unless you repent. Stay strong and don’t let Satan win in your life. The Holy Spirit is your Helper and He can guide you. James says in James 2 that faith without works is dead so make sure you’re not only “praying” (which is a good thing) but also DOING something for the kingdom of God. Spreading his word and doing good to others.

Matthew 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 41Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: 42For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: 43I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 44Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? 45Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 46And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Jesus is our teacher, and the light of our lives

Mark 6:34 And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.

Do read this article about John 10:28, and particularly verse 27 which identifies the sheep. Jesus sheep are those who LISTEN to him and FOLLOW him, so as long as we do this (Greek continuous tense), we are totally safe. Jesus is not going to put us away, but of course he doesn’t force us to remain with him – due to our free will.

Being carnally minded is DEATH but we can attain moral perfection NOW

Dec23

Romans 7 is often used as support for that we can have our sins and our salvation too, but we must consider ALL of Romans 7 and particularly Romans 6 and 8. Paul ends chapter 7 by telling us about the SOLUTION to his problem:

Rom. 7:2²⁴O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? ²⁵I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

He also says:

Rom. 6:¹⁸Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.¹⁹I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.²⁰For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. ²¹What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is DEATH. ²²But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life

Rom. 8:¹There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who WALK not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.²For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

1 Cor. 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? 4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

We can all see a distinction between these two claims coming from the same man – PAUL:

Rom. 7:14 — but I am carnal, sold under sin.

Rom. 8:⁶For to be carnally minded is death; (but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.)

Clearly Paul couldn’t be both carnal and NOT carnal at the same time. If we are sold under sin we are NOT spiritually alive but spiritually dead. Paul said that as a converted man he lived with a good conscience void of offense

Acts 23:¹And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.

Acts 24: ¹⁶And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void to offence toward God, and toward men.

2 Tim. 1:³I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;

The description in Romans 7 is not of the converted life of Paul, but a narration describing what happens when an unconverted sinner’s mind encounters the law of God and is convicted by it.

What does Paul mean with “perfection?

Php. 3:¹²Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

Paul was talking about being free from physical corruption and attaining physical perfection, so not the same as MORAL perfection.The verses right before make it clear that he is talking about the resurrection and our new glorified bodies which will not be corrupted:

Php. 3: ¹⁰That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; ¹¹If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

Paul was certainly not saying that moral perfection is unattainable in this life since he continues to say that many have already attained perfection:

Phil. 3:¹⁴I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. ¹⁶Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. ¹⁷Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.).

Eyes that should not see and ears that should not hear Romans 11:8

Dec21

According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear (Rom. 11:8)

God does not arbitrarily cause certain unfortunate people to be spiritually blind and deaf and neither does he turn around and punish them for not seeking him – which he prevented them to do in the first place. However, if PEOPLE reject him and rebel against him, he can give them over to a reprobate mind. IF God would be the one to make people spiritually blind and deaf (for no reason at all), it must mean that they were NOT blind and deaf from the start – despite that they were adults and had been around for a while. (Something for reformed thinkers to think about, because they believe we were all blind and deaf before we are regenerated and able to believe and do good.)

When we check the passages in the Bible where we can read about God giving people over to blindness and deafness, we can see that this is their own fault due to hardening of their own hearts. We can also see that God EXPECTED Israel to see and hear due to the many miracles that he did before them, and he always has great anger towards people who refuse to give up their idols and other sins. In Romans 11:7-11 Paul is referring to Isaiah, so it’s essential that we study the context in Isaiah to understand why people’s eyes and ears have been shut.

Rom 11:⁷What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded. ⁸(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.⁹And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling block, and a recompence unto them: ¹⁰Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway. ¹¹I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.

Isaiah 29:⁹Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.¹⁰For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.¹¹And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:¹²And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.¹³Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:¹⁴Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.¹⁵Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?

Isaiah 44^:9They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they are their own witnesses; they see not, nor know; that they may be ashamed.—¹⁷And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.¹⁸They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand. 19 And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?²⁰He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?

Ps. 69:²²Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.²³Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.²⁴Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.

Jesus encourages us to walk in the light, LEST darkness will come upon us. and IF we choose to believe in the light, we can become children of light. Despite that Jesus did many miracles, the pharisees still did not believe in him and that is because they had purposed in their hearts to not come to the light. A person who hates the light remains in darkness, and he is spiritually blind.

John 12:³⁵Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.³⁶While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.³⁷But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:³⁸That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?³⁹Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again,⁴⁰He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

John. 3:¹⁹And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.²⁰For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.²¹But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

John. 12:38 is a quote from this passage in the old testament:

Jesaja 6:⁹And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.¹⁰Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.¹¹Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,¹²And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.

Compare with this passage where we can see that Paul is blaming people for not being able to see or hear. Paul did his utmost to persuade people to believe in Jesus, but if God is the one to make people spiritually blind and death, Paul would be wasting his time:

Acts 28:²³And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.²⁴And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.²⁵And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, ²⁶Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: ²⁷For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have THEY closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. ²⁸Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.

Other verses in the same chapter (John 12) show man’s free will and responsibility to seek and come to God. Clearly God would not predestine people to NOT believe in him, follow him, confess him, receive him, abide in him, etc. God would not close the door for people, only to ask the same people why they have not seeked him. We can see that there is an option to reject Jesus, and that is of course against God’s will.

John 12:²⁵He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.²⁶If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.—⁴²Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:⁴³For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.-—⁴⁶I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.—-⁴⁸He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Below we can read about people who forsake God and who have eyes that don’t see and ears that don’t hear, and they are considered foolish by God. Naturally he wouldn’t create people to revolt against him and to have rebellious hearts. We can read that it’s their INIQUITIES which have caused themselves to be withheld from the good things of God:

Jer 5:¹⁹And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not your’s. ²⁰Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying, ²¹Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not: —²³But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. ²⁴Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. ²⁵Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you. ²⁶For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men. ²⁷As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. ²⁸They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge. ²⁹Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? ³⁰A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; ³¹The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?

Other verses which show that people have eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear – due to their own doings

Hes. 12:²Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house. ³Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for removing, and remove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove from thy place to another place in their sight: it may be they will consider, though they be a rebellious house.

Zechariah 7:¹⁰And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.¹¹But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.¹²Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts.¹³Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts:

Ps 135:¹⁵The idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. ¹⁶They have mouths, but they speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; ¹⁷They have ears, but they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouths. ¹⁸They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them.

Deut.29:²And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land; ³The great temptations which thine eyes have seen,the signs, and those great miracles: ⁴Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.-–20 The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.— ²⁴Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of thisgreat anger? ²⁵Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt: ²⁶For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them:

Mark 8:¹⁷And when Jesus knew it, he saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? perceive ye not yet, neither understand? have ye your heart yet hardened? ¹⁸Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember? ¹⁹When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve.

Verses that show that people can and should seek God in order to find him and get life

Jeremiah 29:¹³And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Isaiah 55:⁶Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:⁷Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

1 Chronicles 28:⁹And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

2 Chronicles 15:²And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you.

Romans 10:¹⁶But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?¹⁷So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.¹⁸But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.¹⁹But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.²⁰But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.²¹But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

Isaiah 65:1 I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.²I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;³A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick

Isaiah 45:¹⁹I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.

It doesn’t say anywhere that God randomly selects people who he will cause to not see or hear. The reason why the farisees did not see or hear is that they chose not to follow Jesus to listen to his teaching and to get edified. Instead they came to him in order to mock him and/or find faults – if they even came to him at all. If people were chosen to be elect/non-elect before the world began, then of course Jesus wouldn’t have to speak in parables in order to hide his message, because the non-elect would be blind and deaf regardless.

Luke 8:10 — Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand

Jesus warns his disciples in the same chapter that they must HEAR in the right way and also DO it, which shows there is a risk they won’t.

Luke 8:¹⁸Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have. —21And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.

The Bible doesn’t anywhere that we first must be “regenerated” before we can seek God. God calls us and we must respond, and if we do come to him we must believe that he is, and if we are willing to get to know him we will be revealed the DEEP things of God.

Hebr. 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God MUST BELIEVE THAT HE IS, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently SEEK him.

1 Corinthians 2:10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the DEEP things of God

Romans 1

There is no better passage than Romans 1:18-32 to show the reality of when people reject God even though they know better and have the opportunity to seek him and find him. For this reason God gives them over to reprobation.

Romans 1:¹⁸For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;¹⁹Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.²⁰For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:²¹Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.²²Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,²³And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.²⁴Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:²⁵Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.²⁶For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:²⁷And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.²⁸And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;²⁹Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,³⁰Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,³¹Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:³²Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Can the leopard change his spots? Not if it has no desire to change

Dec18

Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil (Jeremiah 13:23)

Jeremiah 2::32 asks “Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Well, no – what bride would forget her wedding attire? That is simply out of the question, so the answer should then be “NO WAY” and yet we read on:

“—yet my people have forgotten me days without number”.

So the answer is YES after all. Jeremiah 13:23 is a question and not a statement, and it’s like God wants to show Israel how difficult it is for people who are accustomed to do evil and who have hardened their hearts, to change their behavior. But we can be delivered from our sins and spots. We must choose to come to God so he can change us and help us to change our bad habits. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. What else does Jeremiah 13 tell us? We can read about a group of evil people who refuses to obey God, which is very disturbing to him. Due to their rebellion and their refusal to listen and obey, God will punish them. We can read about a people who have forgotten about God and trusted in FALSEHOOD. Does God want his chosen people to trust in falsehood? Clearly not. We can read that it’s due to their wickedness that God will put them to open shame. It’s due to their own actions which they themselves are responsible for, because God certainly didn’t cause them to perform adulteries, neighings, lewdness of whoredom and other abominations that we can read about. God is mighty upset with his peoole for constantly acting against his will. See for yourself:

¹⁰This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing.¹¹For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.

¹⁶Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness. ¹⁷But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD’s flock is carried away captive.

²²And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these things upon me? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts discovered, and thy heels made bare.

²³Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

²⁴Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness. ²⁵This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood. ²⁶Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may appear. ²⁷I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?

We are told we can keep ourselves unspotted from the world

James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

1 Timothy 6:14 That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:

2 Peter 3:14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

Why would God take the time and give so many warning to Israel in Jeremiah (and elsewhere) not to do evil if He knew they were destined to do evil because their nature was evil? A change requires serious effort because of being accustomed to do evil. Jeremiah tells the people to correct their behavior. How can man correct his behavior if he can’t change it and doesn’t have a choice? Man defiles himself by sinning.

Mark 7:²⁰And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.²¹For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,²²Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:²³All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

Rom. 2:¹³(For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.¹⁴For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: ¹⁵Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

Rom 1:¹⁹Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. ²⁰For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: ²¹Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

God works in you both to WILL and to DO as per Phil 2:13?

Dec16

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure (Phil 2:13)

Some people rip this sentence out of the context in order to show that God is the one doing everything for you, maneuvering every step you take. They believe that he believes for you, repents for you and even do the good works for you. If God is the one responsible for doing the good works in us, how come we sometimes mess up and end up in sin, and how come we sometimes don’t show any good fruit? Can we then blame God and assume that he simply doesn’t want us to show good fruit at all times, because then he would surely have arranged it that way? If the responsibility is God’s, then he either fails miserably with us at times or he wants us to be sinning. Let’s say that you didn’t become born again until you were 40. Does this mean God didn’t “will” that you became a christian at an earlier point? Are you telling me that God wants people to be sinners for a few years before he intervenes and finally makes them good and fruit bearing christians?

Jesus says in John 15 that we can’t do anything without him and that a branch must be in the vine. He WARNS us about this (most importantly his own believing disciples) and tells them that THEY must make sure to abide in him. He is not going to do this for them. Paul basically says the same thing in Phil 2:13 – that without Jesus you can do nothing. We must be IN HIM in order to accomplish good fruit, so we must seek him and let the Holy Spirit guide us. Jesus says “IF ye abide in me”, and he also says “Continue ye in my love”, so he is NOT saying that he is the one responsible for doing this but WE are. Read the below and read the many IF:s and warnings:

John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.⁵I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. ⁶If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. ⁸Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. ⁹As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

The context of Philippians 2:13

The verse prior to 2:13 says that we should work out our own salvation with fear and trembling:

¹²Wherefore, my beloved, as ye 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.

Why the need for fear and trembling if we can sit back and relax while God is the one doing the will and the work for us? Why does it say that WE must work, if God is doing all the work? That is because WE must make sure to abide in Jesus so that he can use us for what he has intended, and WE must be eager to know and to do his will and OBEY.

²Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.³Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. ⁴Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. ⁵Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

¹⁴Do all things without murmurings and disputings:¹⁵THAT ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;¹⁶Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

Notice that Paul says there is a risk that he has run in VAIN and labored in VAIN, and this wouldn’t make sense if GOD is the one responsible for doing the good fruit for us. The chapter is filled with Paul’s warnings and suggestions about actions that WE must take in order to be able to stand blameless before God one day. The reason why we can stand blameless before him, is because he is able to cleanse us from our sins which we certainly couldn’t do ourselves. We are also able to continue in that blameless state if we remain clean and obey the holy Spirit, and we are promised that we can stand blameless before him if we “do all things without murmurings and disputings”. Clearly Paul doesn’t expect God to do this for us, but WE must be willing servants and perform the work that God wants us to do. He is not going to force us, and one day we will also be rewarded for our DEEDS if we don’t give up. If God is doing the work for us, then he is the only one that should be rewarded since we are just puppets in his hands, and we could blame our shortcomings on him.

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Tag Archive | works

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Who are Jesus sheep, and who are the goats? – Matt. 25 parable

Being carnally minded is DEATH but we can attain moral perfection NOW

Eyes that should not see and ears that should not hear Romans 11:8

Can the leopard change his spots? Not if it has no desire to change

God works in you both to WILL and to DO as per Phil 2:13?

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