“And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit…”
Must imitate Him in every way all the time.
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Jesus said, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me.”
The only way to the Father is by being united, one spirit with Jesus. Being In Christ is our only hope of being free from sin in this life and freedom from condemning judgment and the wrath of the Lamb of God. Only through union with Jesus cross and resurrection and following His Spirit are we partakers of the salvation that is in Him.
Rom 8:1-9 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For 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. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Young and old alike need to be aware, of death for you know not the day or hour of your death. Those who have no faith or love for the Father or the Son are without hope.
Today is the day of salvation, will you take ahold of it?
John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
The way to the Father is Jesus. Through a persons union with Jesus in His death and resurrection we are Born Again by the Spirit. The very life of God makes us New Creations in Christ. We are one spirit with Jesus, He literally lives in His people by the Spirit.
We have now been raised up in Christ and have been seated with him in the heavenly realms in Christ.
Eph 2:4-10 God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
This is the salvation the Father has provided for us through Jesus. It is being in Christ, Christ in us that gives us the freedom and power to be God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.
Luke 4:18-19
The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners (we were prisoners of sin and the devil")
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed, (mankind is oppressed by sin and the devil, by being In Christ we are released from that oppression.)
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor." (The Fathers favor is toward all who repent and place all their faith, hope and love in Jesus and what He accomplished in His cross and resurrection.)
Jesus is the only way to the Father. The spirit of a man must be as Jesus said, "Born Again, born of the Spirit, born of God.
John 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The people of God, the Body of Christ have the way to the Father, it is the message of Jesus, not only what He taught, but what He did in His cross. The Good News (Gospel) of what Jesus did is the power of God that brings salvation to all who place their trust in Him.
Rom 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
Gal 6:14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
I will not boast of anything I have done, I will only boast, glory in the cross of Jesus. For through it I have died to the world and the world to me.
Thank you Father for the cross of Jesus.
Is that a gift or an accomplishment?
It is the power and work of God not the power and accomplishment of privileged men.
What in the world made you respond with either of those statements. Nothing I said had to do with anything that mankind could do, it was all the Father’s working in Christ. It is not by our works that we could enter into the Father’s presence, it is only by the blood of the Lamb of God, by Jesus our High Priest of the New Covenant.
Of course the salvation from sin, the devil and condemning judgment all comes from the Father. Jesus becoming sin, becoming a curse, being executed in our place, shedding His blood, the blood of the New Covenant, becoming dead and then brought back from death by the Father’s mighty strength, Eph 1:19 “That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead” he was raised up from death and then seated at the Father’s right hand. That same power is at work in those who believe. All this was to grant both forgiveness from sin and power over it. The cross of Christ, frees those who belong to Him from the lordship of sin and the devils. All this is the Father’s doing but made effective in those who place their full confidence (faith) in Jesus.
It wasn’t because of our good works that the Father was “pleased to crush Him”, it was because of our sins that all He went through was necessary. But from His sacrifice, those who belong to Him are literal New Creations, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.
Jesus is the way to the Father. He Himself is the way because it is only by being literally united to Him through His cross, that anyone can go to the Father.
What in the world made you respond to my statements with yours?
I do not know.
What made me respond to you in this way was in order to explain what I said.
Being born again is a gift not an accomplishment. So this is not a way for us to do anything.
The Good news is the power and work of God so again this is not a way for us to do anything.
Again going back to what Jesus said in Matthew 19…
25 When the disciples heard this they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
The man in Matthew 19 wanted to know the way to get salvation and this is Jesus’ reply. No way. This is not something you can do. Only God can do that.
When a disciple, born of the Spirit, no longer under condemnation, who powered his way in faith to please God, eventually struggles to put one foot in front of the other to move forward, falls back despite fasting and fervent prayer, confession, repentance, over and over…
It is a gift you can reject, too, isn’t it?
If we do such a terrible thing as to do something we know is sin but turn from it, we have a high priest seated at the right hand of God interceding on our behalf.
But we must grow in our knowledge of Jesus and what the Father has made us to be in Christ. For all the fullness of the godhead dwells in Him and we are made complete in Him. The same power that raised Jesus up from death lives in us. The more we allow the words of Jesus to remain in our thoughts, the more we submit to Him out of faith and love, then the more we will know Him. And the more we know Him, the more we know the Father, and this is Eternal Life, to know the one true God and Jesus His son.
Rom 12:2 “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Eph 6:10- Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."
I cannot over emphasize the extreme power of God for us by what He did through Jesus becoming sin and a curse, His execution and being crushed by the Father, His taking on our death (not just dying physically) but entering into death and then God raised Jesus up by His might power, stripping of the powers of death (again, not just physical death) and making Jesus alive in spirit. And exalting Him above all powers and principalities. This was done for us and all who are united to Him have power over all the works of the enemy. “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind”.
Paul said, that the good news he preached about Jesus was given to him directly from Jesus.
Study the epistles with the intent to see all that the Cross of Christ, has done for those who believe.
Look for terms or concepts of, Cross of Christ, In Christ, In Him, New Creation, Born of God, being conformed into His image. By trusting in what Jesus did from the cross to His resurrection a person is recreated by God, in Christ, in God’s righteousness, filled with His Spirit, power, love and a sound mind. As you continue to look on these things, ask God to give you understanding, and as He does, the glory of God will fill your soul and will work salvation in you. You WILL grow into the very likeness of Jesus and the Father. That is the goal of salvation after all.
a “gift” you cannot refuse is not a gift
also accepting a gift does not change it to something earned nor to something you are entitled to
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Great stuff. Say you do that and more. Say your dedication and love and discipline in all things for Christ, exceed everything biblically called for and you fail, repeatedly, continually, no matter what you do. No matter what.
If such a Christian was missing half his brain, would you expect God to take that into consideration as his child’s heart broke because he kept failing his Lord? He mourned over his sins. He cried out to God night and day for deliverance, for the victory he once had before half his brain decayed and stopped working. What would God say to such a devout failure? What would you say to your child?
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
heard what?
That rich people cannot get into heaven? no.
Nor is the point that you don’t have to do anything. Jesus never said any such thing. In fact, Jesus kept telling the man things he should do.
The point was that this is not something you can get done and list as an accomplishment in life.
The point was that there is no entitlement in this.
The point is that Jesus was teaching a gospel of salvation by the grace of God and that we must have faith, and faith requires giving ourselves without limit or entitlement.
I think that is where so much of Christianity goes wrong… changing faith into entitlement, so that salvation becomes a piece of their own personal property.
I can say no thanks. I don’t want your gift.
true.
I can choose to reject his gift or I can choose to accept his gift. If I can’t refuse, it isn’t a gift. If I choose to receive his gift, I am making a choice. Receiving a gift isn’t an accomplishment per se. It is a willful decision the person receiving the gift must make.
You continue to trust Him who executed Jesus for you and raised Him up from death. You do what Jesus did with sin, the curse and death swallowing Him, Heb 5:7 “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”
He cried out to the Father and He was heard because He feared the Father. You never ever stop calling out to the Father and Jesus, for all who call and keep calling on the name of the Lord will be saved.
When you’ve done all that you know to do, you stand firm protected by the TRUTH, RIGHTEOUSNESS, THE GOSPEL OF PEACE, THE SHIELD OF FAITH, HELMET OF SALVATION AND THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT THE WORD OF GOD.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not to your own understanding but acknowledge the Lord in all your ways and He will direct your path. Never, ever, ever stop trusting the Father and the Son.
Of course. But the sinning? How can we sin when we do all that is asked of us? Why don’t his promises of freedom from sin work in this case?
All that Jesus went through in His death and resurrection is the way that the Father provided salvation for us.
Ours is to “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved”.
Faith in the person of Jesus and His work of salvation for us, is what activates salvation in those who believe. Without faith mankind is dead in their sins.
Salvation is from God.
Salvation is appropriated by the individual through trusting God and acknowledging and following Jesus as their Lord.
Edit:
Faith does not entitle a person, it is what is needed to receive the gift of God’s very life living in them.
No faith, trust, love for the Father or Jesus is the rejection of the gift.
Rephrase this for me please. Not sure what you mean.
Are you basically asking how we can stop sinning altogether?
Why does this devoted, true blue, extremely enthusiastic, disciplined, loving disciple keep sinning and sinning and sinning, doing the same thing over and over, when his entire life revolves around pleasing Jesus?