Saturday, February 29, 2020
Jesus Christ is Everything!
There is a video that sounds like a Christian one, I posted it yesterday to watch it later. I had to remove it because as I watched it much of the bible was quoted but not once was Jesus Christ mentioned as the way to God the Father. I don't know who made the video but I am always suspect when God is spoken of but Jesus Christ is never mentioned.
I took the video down not because bad things were in it but because Jesus Christ was not mentioned as the way to salvation. It was heavily focused on sin or good deeds as though these were the ways to gain salvation.
No one gains salvation through good deeds, they become born again by trusting in Christ as the payment for their sin. After this happens Christ comes to live in us changing us into an entirely new creation. We are no longer the same person we were before.
Then after this Christ in us begins the cleansing process, the residue of a sinful nature is chipped away at as we confess our sin, He then forgives and cleanses us from it.
1 John 1:9 "9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
We have to confess to be cleansed, just as any relationship must include confession and forgiveness. If one of these elements is left out then the relationship cannot be restored.
If we sin as born again believers and do not confess we will regress in our walk. The more we confess with each onset of sinful attitude or action, the more we lose interest in that sin. When we do not confess out of pride, then God will not hear our prayers, we hinder the relationship and the Holy Spirit in us goes silent until we confess.
James 4:1-10
1 "What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?
2 You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
5 Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”?
6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
God disciplines those who are born again when they sin.
Hebrews 12:5-7 "…5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you.
6 For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises everyone He receives as a son.” 7 Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?"
I took the video down not because bad things were in it but because Jesus Christ was not mentioned as the way to salvation. It was heavily focused on sin or good deeds as though these were the ways to gain salvation.
No one gains salvation through good deeds, they become born again by trusting in Christ as the payment for their sin. After this happens Christ comes to live in us changing us into an entirely new creation. We are no longer the same person we were before.
Then after this Christ in us begins the cleansing process, the residue of a sinful nature is chipped away at as we confess our sin, He then forgives and cleanses us from it.
1 John 1:9 "9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
We have to confess to be cleansed, just as any relationship must include confession and forgiveness. If one of these elements is left out then the relationship cannot be restored.
If we sin as born again believers and do not confess we will regress in our walk. The more we confess with each onset of sinful attitude or action, the more we lose interest in that sin. When we do not confess out of pride, then God will not hear our prayers, we hinder the relationship and the Holy Spirit in us goes silent until we confess.
James 4:1-10
1 "What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?
2 You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
5 Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”?
6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
God disciplines those who are born again when they sin.
Hebrews 12:5-7 "…5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you.
6 For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises everyone He receives as a son.” 7 Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?"
Stubbornness Leads to Hell
There seems to be a tactic for those who don't like to listen. Just as with some children having been warned if they live a certain way bad things will happen to them. Then when the bad things come because they didn't listen, they claim their parent didn't warn them. I have heard this story from parents who felt frustrated for being accused of not teaching their children something they knew they did teach them.
The "gnashing of teeth" the bible speaks about is the gritting of the teeth by people who remain angry that God assigned them to hell. Even though they made the choice to go to hell because they refused to listen or believe in Christ, they blame others as though they had no choice in the matter. There is no excuse for choosing to go to hell by refusing Christ. Everyone who becomes born again by believing in Christ chooses it, they are getting what they chose.
Rebellious people often want to do things their own way even if it ruins their life or their eternity. Yes, it is irrational and stubborn, bringing only misery on themselves. Those who trust in Christ do it because they know what He is offering, eternal life with a perfect love in paradise.
Since God created us He knows what is best for us and what makes us the most joyful. Parents get a glimpse of how God must feel when people reject Him to have their own way only to end up ruined.
Why does this happen, rational thinking people figure it out, its pretty simple. The devil deceives them, when God or man warns them they do not listen because what they are doing appeals to their emotions and their fleshly fallen nature. They refuse to think independently of their emotions and tricks of the devil. They do not consult with God to find the truth. The more they ignore God and enjoy foolishness the less likely they are to be convinced that what they do destroys them.
The cement of rebellion solidifies in their minds so much so that they can no longer get back any rational thinking if it were ever there.
There is an old saying; "they cut their own nose off to spite their face."
Romans 6:23
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
The "gnashing of teeth" the bible speaks about is the gritting of the teeth by people who remain angry that God assigned them to hell. Even though they made the choice to go to hell because they refused to listen or believe in Christ, they blame others as though they had no choice in the matter. There is no excuse for choosing to go to hell by refusing Christ. Everyone who becomes born again by believing in Christ chooses it, they are getting what they chose.
Rebellious people often want to do things their own way even if it ruins their life or their eternity. Yes, it is irrational and stubborn, bringing only misery on themselves. Those who trust in Christ do it because they know what He is offering, eternal life with a perfect love in paradise.
Since God created us He knows what is best for us and what makes us the most joyful. Parents get a glimpse of how God must feel when people reject Him to have their own way only to end up ruined.
Why does this happen, rational thinking people figure it out, its pretty simple. The devil deceives them, when God or man warns them they do not listen because what they are doing appeals to their emotions and their fleshly fallen nature. They refuse to think independently of their emotions and tricks of the devil. They do not consult with God to find the truth. The more they ignore God and enjoy foolishness the less likely they are to be convinced that what they do destroys them.
The cement of rebellion solidifies in their minds so much so that they can no longer get back any rational thinking if it were ever there.
There is an old saying; "they cut their own nose off to spite their face."
Romans 6:23
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
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