Don't forget that God allowed the devil to afflict Job. Believers are not exempt from illness. How they respond in the illness is of more value than if they have not had it at all.
Also, believers should never presume upon God for things they are not sure are His will. Godly people die every day from various things, cancer, car crashes and much more because God is taking them home.
I have had several operations in my day. The doctors who performed them and nurses who cared for me were in the presence of the Holy Spirit while they cared for me. We never know why God wants us to endure something but we know if we have Christ there is a purpose.
James 1:12
"Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him."
James 1:2-8
"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. ..."
Our faith is demonstrated in how we handle trials far more than if God bails us out of them.
It is wise to take proper care of ourselves and follow God's principles in that care, but it is not a guarantee that we will never be sick or have trials.
We are in spiritual boot camp as born again believers. Everything we have been given to endure has a purpose for our growth and as a witness to others of God's power in our lives. We will not become strong if we don't endure hardship.
Many believers around the world have been and will be martyred who will see a special crown for their dedication to Christ even being face with torture and death. When we think with the mind of Christ our focus is more on God's purposes than on the means by which He strengthens us.
Proverbs 3:5-6
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."
Romans 8:28
"28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."
Sunday, March 29, 2020
The Habitual Sin of the Unsaved
No born again believer remains in habitual sin after Christ has changed them. However, they do sin, this sin does not lose them the Holy Spirit. We are sealed by God as His child.
Anyone who believes they can sin and enjoy it and still claims to be a Christian has never been born again.
Christians hate it when they sin, the Holy Spirit in them convicts them, gives them consequences and disciplines them until they confess to being cleansed and return to obedience.
Remember the Passover, when God said, in order for Him to Passover their house so the people in it will be protected? The blood on the door protected God's children not their deeds. The people in the houses were protected by the blood representing Christ the sacrifice to come.
No one is saved by their own works or kept by their own works, they must be covered in the blood of the Lamb. There was no example of the blood on the posts of the Jews being removed because of anything the people inside were doing.
New Christians have been changed into a new creation by Christ, they do not want to sin, if they do then they have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ and they grieve over the sin.
Unbelievers do not grieve over their sin, they do not seek Christ to be cleansed, only believers do that.
1 John 2:1-2 "1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father— Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.…"
These verses were written to changed born again believers.
2 Corinthians 5:17
"17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
Did you see that James, "old things passed away."
Ephesians 4:30-31 "30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice.…"
Born again believers can grieve the Holy Spirit Who lives in them. If we sin after we are born again, Christ in us disciplines us.
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?…"
James if you are depending on yourself to be cleansed or for keeping your salvation then you have not trusted in Christ.
Christ has the power to save us, to cleanse us and to keep us He said so and I believe Him.
2 Timothy 2:13 "13 if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. "
The lie that is going around that God never leaves us but we can leave Him is not found anywhere in the Bible.
Ephesians 1:12-14 "…12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, would be for the praise of His glory. 13 And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth— the gospel of your salvation— you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.…"
God made a promise to us when we became born again, that was that He would never leave us. His promises are not predicated on anything we do as born again believers. God knows we mess up at times, those who think they never sin again after salvation are denying Christ and His promises.
If anything we did depended on our salvation then Christ's death on the cross would be foolish. He did it all and He said it was finished.
When we become born again we hate sin, when we fail we hate grieving God. Born again believers do not remain in habitual sin after the have become born again.
The born again believers receive the fruit of the Spirit, which is the fruit of Christ's character when they are changed by God.
That fruit is the character qualities of Christ. They never lose this fruit, it remains, it becomes a part of them.
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law.
Those who are pretenders do not have the fruit and born again believers can see who has it and who does not.
Matthew 7:15-20
A Tree and Its Fruit
15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will [a]know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will [c]know them by their fruits.
This fruit is no works or deeds, they are character qualities that lead to the deeds that Christ works in us.
How do you identify a born again believer or a nonbeliever? Never by what they say to you. We identify them by their love of the brethren, and their hatred for sin. Born again people are grieved when they sin, but the nonbeliever will be defensive when confronted with their sin. They will fight to defend what God hates.
The born again believer will be ashamed of any sin they do, they will confess quickly because they want to be cleansed by God.
1 John 3:8-10 "…8 The one who practices sin is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.…"
"Practice" meaning living a general lifestyle of consistency in obedience to God. Even if a child of God sins they do not remain in it, the conviction of the Holy Spirit in them will torment them until they confess to be cleansed.
1 John 1:8-10 "…8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.…"
Anyone who believes they can sin and enjoy it and still claims to be a Christian has never been born again.
Christians hate it when they sin, the Holy Spirit in them convicts them, gives them consequences and disciplines them until they confess to being cleansed and return to obedience.
Remember the Passover, when God said, in order for Him to Passover their house so the people in it will be protected? The blood on the door protected God's children not their deeds. The people in the houses were protected by the blood representing Christ the sacrifice to come.
No one is saved by their own works or kept by their own works, they must be covered in the blood of the Lamb. There was no example of the blood on the posts of the Jews being removed because of anything the people inside were doing.
New Christians have been changed into a new creation by Christ, they do not want to sin, if they do then they have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ and they grieve over the sin.
Unbelievers do not grieve over their sin, they do not seek Christ to be cleansed, only believers do that.
1 John 2:1-2 "1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father— Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.…"
These verses were written to changed born again believers.
2 Corinthians 5:17
"17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."
Did you see that James, "old things passed away."
Ephesians 4:30-31 "30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice.…"
Born again believers can grieve the Holy Spirit Who lives in them. If we sin after we are born again, Christ in us disciplines us.
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?…"
James if you are depending on yourself to be cleansed or for keeping your salvation then you have not trusted in Christ.
Christ has the power to save us, to cleanse us and to keep us He said so and I believe Him.
2 Timothy 2:13 "13 if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. "
The lie that is going around that God never leaves us but we can leave Him is not found anywhere in the Bible.
Ephesians 1:12-14 "…12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, would be for the praise of His glory. 13 And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth— the gospel of your salvation— you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.…"
God made a promise to us when we became born again, that was that He would never leave us. His promises are not predicated on anything we do as born again believers. God knows we mess up at times, those who think they never sin again after salvation are denying Christ and His promises.
If anything we did depended on our salvation then Christ's death on the cross would be foolish. He did it all and He said it was finished.
When we become born again we hate sin, when we fail we hate grieving God. Born again believers do not remain in habitual sin after the have become born again.
The born again believers receive the fruit of the Spirit, which is the fruit of Christ's character when they are changed by God.
That fruit is the character qualities of Christ. They never lose this fruit, it remains, it becomes a part of them.
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things, there is no law.
Those who are pretenders do not have the fruit and born again believers can see who has it and who does not.
Matthew 7:15-20
A Tree and Its Fruit
15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will [a]know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will [c]know them by their fruits.
This fruit is no works or deeds, they are character qualities that lead to the deeds that Christ works in us.
How do you identify a born again believer or a nonbeliever? Never by what they say to you. We identify them by their love of the brethren, and their hatred for sin. Born again people are grieved when they sin, but the nonbeliever will be defensive when confronted with their sin. They will fight to defend what God hates.
The born again believer will be ashamed of any sin they do, they will confess quickly because they want to be cleansed by God.
1 John 3:8-10 "…8 The one who practices sin is of the devil because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.…"
"Practice" meaning living a general lifestyle of consistency in obedience to God. Even if a child of God sins they do not remain in it, the conviction of the Holy Spirit in them will torment them until they confess to be cleansed.
1 John 1:8-10 "…8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.…"
Saturday, March 28, 2020
Keep Calm and Carry On!
When this Corona mess is all over I would be interested in how the Christians faired through it. I feel no urgency or fear, and hope my brothers and sisters have that same calmness that comes from trusting Christ.
The British in WWII had a saying to bolster the spirits of their people and keep them hopeful. That saying was "keep calm and carry on." There were lots of Christians in Britain at that time, they understood trusting Christ through hardship. I placed this saying on a sign that hangs on our front porch. It is a good saying for every day! We can only remain calm when we know Christ is with us and in us.
After all, if we are to be logical we have to think; "what good will come out of panic and fear"? Will it change anything? Will it bring a good Christians witness to be afraid of what one cannot control? Our trust in Christ will speak volumes to those who may want to know how we maintain hope and peace in times that would normally panic the unbeliever.
Trusting Christ through it all while showing wisdom in how we conduct ourselves may be the thing that God is using to keep us safe as well as a witness to the world of Christ's power in us.
2 Corinthians 4:8-9
"We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;"
1 Peter 5:10
"And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you."
The British in WWII had a saying to bolster the spirits of their people and keep them hopeful. That saying was "keep calm and carry on." There were lots of Christians in Britain at that time, they understood trusting Christ through hardship. I placed this saying on a sign that hangs on our front porch. It is a good saying for every day! We can only remain calm when we know Christ is with us and in us.
After all, if we are to be logical we have to think; "what good will come out of panic and fear"? Will it change anything? Will it bring a good Christians witness to be afraid of what one cannot control? Our trust in Christ will speak volumes to those who may want to know how we maintain hope and peace in times that would normally panic the unbeliever.
Trusting Christ through it all while showing wisdom in how we conduct ourselves may be the thing that God is using to keep us safe as well as a witness to the world of Christ's power in us.
2 Corinthians 4:8-9
"We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;"
1 Peter 5:10
"And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you."
Marriage and Salvation
Marriage is a picture of the relationship between Christ and His church. The marriage bond between a man and a woman cannot be severed by man, it's a permanent spiritual glue placed there by God to make two people one until one of them dies.
This is true of salvation for the believer too. When we have been born again God changes us into one with Him. That relationship cannot be severed by anyone.
What God does cannot be undone by man. Neither marriage or salvation.
Mark 10:7-9 "…7 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, no man can separate.”…"
The phrase; "let no man" is the old English expressing "no man can." This is important because many people believe marriage can be separated but it cannot. This union cannot be separated no matter what the sin in the lives of the marriage.
No man can separate the oneness of the Holy Spirit with His born again children. We can be disobedient and God will discipline us, but we cannot be severed from the Holy Spirit with Whom we have been sealed.
During the Passover, God told those who belonged to Him, the Israelites, to place the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and over the door. When the Holy Spirit saw this blood it would pass over the house and the house would be safe from the death of the firstborn. There was no measure of whether or not the people inside the dwelling was good enough.
When we become born again we are sealed in the blood of Christ. It is on us and the Spirit lives in us, we are not measured by our good deeds or how good we are as human beings, because there is no good in us. We are passed over for judgement because we have the blood of Jesus Christ over us.
Christ becomes our righteousness, He disciplines us when we stray, He instructs us which way to go and convicts us when we have wrong thoughts or actions. In other words, He is our everything.
However, we can ignore Him but we will see the consequences of our stubbornness through life's hardships. God will bring discipline upon us until we confess to be cleansed. Only those who are born again have an advocate with the Father. Those who are not born again, those who have not trusted Christ do not have an advocate and the Lord does not hear their prayers.
The only prayers of the unsaved that are heard are those of repentance toward God.
1 John 1:9
"9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
1 John 2:1-2 "1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father— Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.…"
This is true of salvation for the believer too. When we have been born again God changes us into one with Him. That relationship cannot be severed by anyone.
What God does cannot be undone by man. Neither marriage or salvation.
Mark 10:7-9 "…7 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, no man can separate.”…"
The phrase; "let no man" is the old English expressing "no man can." This is important because many people believe marriage can be separated but it cannot. This union cannot be separated no matter what the sin in the lives of the marriage.
No man can separate the oneness of the Holy Spirit with His born again children. We can be disobedient and God will discipline us, but we cannot be severed from the Holy Spirit with Whom we have been sealed.
During the Passover, God told those who belonged to Him, the Israelites, to place the blood of the lamb on the doorposts and over the door. When the Holy Spirit saw this blood it would pass over the house and the house would be safe from the death of the firstborn. There was no measure of whether or not the people inside the dwelling was good enough.
When we become born again we are sealed in the blood of Christ. It is on us and the Spirit lives in us, we are not measured by our good deeds or how good we are as human beings, because there is no good in us. We are passed over for judgement because we have the blood of Jesus Christ over us.
Christ becomes our righteousness, He disciplines us when we stray, He instructs us which way to go and convicts us when we have wrong thoughts or actions. In other words, He is our everything.
However, we can ignore Him but we will see the consequences of our stubbornness through life's hardships. God will bring discipline upon us until we confess to be cleansed. Only those who are born again have an advocate with the Father. Those who are not born again, those who have not trusted Christ do not have an advocate and the Lord does not hear their prayers.
The only prayers of the unsaved that are heard are those of repentance toward God.
1 John 1:9
"9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
1 John 2:1-2 "1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father— Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.…"
The Permanency of Salvation
We will never lose our salvation if we are truly born again.
Many years ago, I was taught and believed that we had a choice to get saved or to walk away from that salvation. I had no sense of permanency or security in my walk with My Lord. I questioned whether someday I may do something that God was displeased with and He would no longer love me and cast me aside for whatever that sin was.
I believed this because my life experience was like that. If I did not measure up to someone else’s idea of a “godly” person then I was not in the kingdom. The problem was not sin in my life, it was how I viewed relationships.
Those who were supposed to love me judged my heart regularly without even talking to me. They would not listen when I needed a friend and didn’t care if I recovered. For them it was about winning, they didn’t like the questions so their way of “handling” me was to guilt me into submission without attempting to understand why I had the questions.
I had such a hard time believing that I had the strength to carry on for Him or that I could measure up, after all, my life was fraught with the indoctrination from my childhood that I was of no value to my family or my community.
How could I ever be loved by God, how could He knowing me, love me? I questioned God on numerous occasions, what sin would separate us, how many sins or how big did they have to be to incur the wrath of God, that He would throw me away.
I thought, what kind of God would tell us we could lose our salvation and then not even describe to us the detailed criteria of what can cause us to be thrown away.
Or what kind of God would say "In Him, you also [trusted], after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory" Ephesians 1:13-14, and then withdraw it when I had a weak moment.
Most of my human experiences have been this kind of love, measuring up, looking good, doing all the right things that are approved of by those who are superior and you're in, that is if you act the way they do, think the way they do or enhance them in some way.
If you embrace them with honesty or questions they can not answer, you become labeled as unworthy of their love. I can see how many people who have not walked in the Spirit would act in this way. They love to have prominent places and seek out the “beautiful” people who will bring them personal glory.
I believed the teaching that one could lose their salvation because this is what people did if I didn't measure up, they went away and rejected me, so I had the impression that this is what God does too.
I begged God to love me differently than people did, which didn't seem like love at all. One slip up in my character and the people disappeared. They not only disappeared but had no compulsion to come to me to try to save me, to snatch me from the firebrand. My slip-ups were not sin they were the crime of wanting more than a superficial walk with God. I wanted answers to life situations in light of God’s Word, and most people wanted a safe, uncomplicated walk, that enhanced their life pleasurably, elevating them in some way.
Is it possible that our view of God and our interpretation of Scripture come from our observations about people and their responses to us?
I am grateful that God is not like people. His ways are so far above mankind, that we have no ability to understand or carry out His righteousness.
We must have the Holy Spirit to walk with Him and we must possess the Holy Spirit if we are to remain. If the Holy Spirit left us, as people do, and we are saved by our works, then how would we ever get back again to possess the Holy Spirit, our works would not save us to come back.
Oh my, what a dilemma I struggled with before the Lord opened my eyes. I saw no evidence in the Word that the Holy Spirit hopped in and out of people like a jumping jack because we didn’t measure up. What I saw was a merciful and loving God who knows we cannot measure up on our own, so He gave us The Ultimate Helper, the Holy Spirit.
I am convinced without a doubt that we cannot lose our salvation. If we believe that God saved us after we chose and confessed our sin, and that Christ said in Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; [it is] the gift of God," then we have to believe that God is the one who saves and we do not save ourselves through our works.
If we know that we can not save ourselves through our own works then we have to know that we cannot keep ourselves by our works.
When God saves us, He gives us what we desire and that is to be forgiven and to be saved, then He does the work of saving, He does the work of cleansing and He does the work of keeping.
God said 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone [is] in Christ, [he is] a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." God changes us into something we were not before and that we could not make of ourselves.
We are however trapped in this body of death, Our soul has been overtaken by the Holy Spirit of God.
Ephesians 1:13-14 says "In Him, you also [trusted], after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory."
I would like us to take a look at some of the words in this verse, they are; Holy Spirit of Promise, Sealed, Guarantee, inheritance, purchased possession. All of these show that it is a done deal when we have been changed by God.
When we realize that He changes us when we get saved, He makes two people one in marriage and He remains faithful to Israel in all His promises. All of these works are His and constant with His character. We cannot undo our salvation, and we don't want to. We cannot undo our marriage and if we are saved, we don't want to. God is a God of faithfulness even when we are not. God remains faithful to Israel. In fact in these last days the tribulation will be God's way of bringing Israel back to Himself.
We do sin after salvation because God said that no one is righteous no not one, this is why God had to seal us with His Holy Spirit, to keep us. It is a salvation by works and inconsistent to say that we can't save ourselves but we can do enough good works to keep ourselves. Christ can not come off the cross, He said it is finished. HE will not ever go back to the cross, because "it is finished."
Now the problem is that we see people who claim to be saved and have walked away, but God said in Matthew 7:21-23, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord', shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'"
It is clear that many people who claim to be saved will look so good that others looking on will not realize that they are not saved and never have been.
In this passage, God says "I NEVER knew you." They were never changed into a new creation even though they looked so good on the outside.
We do however sin, we are not sinless but we sin less, because God said that He is in the process of sanctification until the day we die.
This is why God said in 1 John 2 "My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."
An unsaved person does not have an advocate with the Father, only His children do. If we see someone living a lifestyle of sin without conscience about it, then they not saved. They may go to church, pray in front of people and put on a good act of being a Christian, but never belonged to Christ.
We will never lose our salvation, if we are truly born again.
Ephesians 1:13-14 settles the matter for me along with all the other evidence that God is only good. A depraved and hopeless unsaved person could never do enough good to merit heaven.
Isaiah 64:6
"6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean,
And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
And all of us wither like a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away."
No one is good, only Christ. Then it makes good sense that the only Good One could do good in us.
If sin could lose us our salvation then this passage would be foolish:
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?…"
If sin would lose us our salvation then why would God discipline those He loves. He does it to bring His children back to obedience.
God also said to me; 1 Corinthians 3:14-16 "…14 If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames. 16 Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?…"
God does not throw His children away, He disciplines them if they do not obey Him any sin left is burned off but the rewards will be less if there has been unconfessed sin.
My God told me, "I will never throw you away because you do not measure up, you could never measure up. When you fall I will pick you up and bring you back"
I remember the story of the lamb who wanders off from his shepherd. The shepherd does not let him go to fall over cliffs and die; he goes after him and breaks the legs of the lamb. He breaks his legs and then carries him so that the lamb learns to depend on the shepherd and will not continue to wander away after that. God sometimes breaks our legs as believers, but he never throws us away as people do. He is pure love and knows the propensity of man to wander.
Do we love people as God loves us or do we love people the way humanity does, with disinterest in one another? Associating only with those we think “measure up.” Do we do the easy thing focusing on feelings and fun, rather than the hard work of rebuke and discipline praying for and hoping that our loved one will be restored? God does walk away from rebellious pretenders who do not love Him and are stubborn, but He never walks away from His lambs.
Many years ago, I was taught and believed that we had a choice to get saved or to walk away from that salvation. I had no sense of permanency or security in my walk with My Lord. I questioned whether someday I may do something that God was displeased with and He would no longer love me and cast me aside for whatever that sin was.
I believed this because my life experience was like that. If I did not measure up to someone else’s idea of a “godly” person then I was not in the kingdom. The problem was not sin in my life, it was how I viewed relationships.
Those who were supposed to love me judged my heart regularly without even talking to me. They would not listen when I needed a friend and didn’t care if I recovered. For them it was about winning, they didn’t like the questions so their way of “handling” me was to guilt me into submission without attempting to understand why I had the questions.
I had such a hard time believing that I had the strength to carry on for Him or that I could measure up, after all, my life was fraught with the indoctrination from my childhood that I was of no value to my family or my community.
How could I ever be loved by God, how could He knowing me, love me? I questioned God on numerous occasions, what sin would separate us, how many sins or how big did they have to be to incur the wrath of God, that He would throw me away.
I thought, what kind of God would tell us we could lose our salvation and then not even describe to us the detailed criteria of what can cause us to be thrown away.
Or what kind of God would say "In Him, you also [trusted], after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory" Ephesians 1:13-14, and then withdraw it when I had a weak moment.
Most of my human experiences have been this kind of love, measuring up, looking good, doing all the right things that are approved of by those who are superior and you're in, that is if you act the way they do, think the way they do or enhance them in some way.
If you embrace them with honesty or questions they can not answer, you become labeled as unworthy of their love. I can see how many people who have not walked in the Spirit would act in this way. They love to have prominent places and seek out the “beautiful” people who will bring them personal glory.
I believed the teaching that one could lose their salvation because this is what people did if I didn't measure up, they went away and rejected me, so I had the impression that this is what God does too.
I begged God to love me differently than people did, which didn't seem like love at all. One slip up in my character and the people disappeared. They not only disappeared but had no compulsion to come to me to try to save me, to snatch me from the firebrand. My slip-ups were not sin they were the crime of wanting more than a superficial walk with God. I wanted answers to life situations in light of God’s Word, and most people wanted a safe, uncomplicated walk, that enhanced their life pleasurably, elevating them in some way.
Is it possible that our view of God and our interpretation of Scripture come from our observations about people and their responses to us?
I am grateful that God is not like people. His ways are so far above mankind, that we have no ability to understand or carry out His righteousness.
We must have the Holy Spirit to walk with Him and we must possess the Holy Spirit if we are to remain. If the Holy Spirit left us, as people do, and we are saved by our works, then how would we ever get back again to possess the Holy Spirit, our works would not save us to come back.
Oh my, what a dilemma I struggled with before the Lord opened my eyes. I saw no evidence in the Word that the Holy Spirit hopped in and out of people like a jumping jack because we didn’t measure up. What I saw was a merciful and loving God who knows we cannot measure up on our own, so He gave us The Ultimate Helper, the Holy Spirit.
I am convinced without a doubt that we cannot lose our salvation. If we believe that God saved us after we chose and confessed our sin, and that Christ said in Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; [it is] the gift of God," then we have to believe that God is the one who saves and we do not save ourselves through our works.
If we know that we can not save ourselves through our own works then we have to know that we cannot keep ourselves by our works.
When God saves us, He gives us what we desire and that is to be forgiven and to be saved, then He does the work of saving, He does the work of cleansing and He does the work of keeping.
God said 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone [is] in Christ, [he is] a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." God changes us into something we were not before and that we could not make of ourselves.
We are however trapped in this body of death, Our soul has been overtaken by the Holy Spirit of God.
Ephesians 1:13-14 says "In Him, you also [trusted], after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory."
I would like us to take a look at some of the words in this verse, they are; Holy Spirit of Promise, Sealed, Guarantee, inheritance, purchased possession. All of these show that it is a done deal when we have been changed by God.
When we realize that He changes us when we get saved, He makes two people one in marriage and He remains faithful to Israel in all His promises. All of these works are His and constant with His character. We cannot undo our salvation, and we don't want to. We cannot undo our marriage and if we are saved, we don't want to. God is a God of faithfulness even when we are not. God remains faithful to Israel. In fact in these last days the tribulation will be God's way of bringing Israel back to Himself.
We do sin after salvation because God said that no one is righteous no not one, this is why God had to seal us with His Holy Spirit, to keep us. It is a salvation by works and inconsistent to say that we can't save ourselves but we can do enough good works to keep ourselves. Christ can not come off the cross, He said it is finished. HE will not ever go back to the cross, because "it is finished."
Now the problem is that we see people who claim to be saved and have walked away, but God said in Matthew 7:21-23, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord', shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'"
It is clear that many people who claim to be saved will look so good that others looking on will not realize that they are not saved and never have been.
In this passage, God says "I NEVER knew you." They were never changed into a new creation even though they looked so good on the outside.
We do however sin, we are not sinless but we sin less, because God said that He is in the process of sanctification until the day we die.
This is why God said in 1 John 2 "My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."
An unsaved person does not have an advocate with the Father, only His children do. If we see someone living a lifestyle of sin without conscience about it, then they not saved. They may go to church, pray in front of people and put on a good act of being a Christian, but never belonged to Christ.
We will never lose our salvation, if we are truly born again.
Ephesians 1:13-14 settles the matter for me along with all the other evidence that God is only good. A depraved and hopeless unsaved person could never do enough good to merit heaven.
Isaiah 64:6
"6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean,
And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
And all of us wither like a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away."
No one is good, only Christ. Then it makes good sense that the only Good One could do good in us.
If sin could lose us our salvation then this passage would be foolish:
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?…"
If sin would lose us our salvation then why would God discipline those He loves. He does it to bring His children back to obedience.
God also said to me; 1 Corinthians 3:14-16 "…14 If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames. 16 Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?…"
God does not throw His children away, He disciplines them if they do not obey Him any sin left is burned off but the rewards will be less if there has been unconfessed sin.
My God told me, "I will never throw you away because you do not measure up, you could never measure up. When you fall I will pick you up and bring you back"
I remember the story of the lamb who wanders off from his shepherd. The shepherd does not let him go to fall over cliffs and die; he goes after him and breaks the legs of the lamb. He breaks his legs and then carries him so that the lamb learns to depend on the shepherd and will not continue to wander away after that. God sometimes breaks our legs as believers, but he never throws us away as people do. He is pure love and knows the propensity of man to wander.
Do we love people as God loves us or do we love people the way humanity does, with disinterest in one another? Associating only with those we think “measure up.” Do we do the easy thing focusing on feelings and fun, rather than the hard work of rebuke and discipline praying for and hoping that our loved one will be restored? God does walk away from rebellious pretenders who do not love Him and are stubborn, but He never walks away from His lambs.
Changed Hearts
The Spirit does what the law can not do, Change Hearts...
Romans 8:3-4
3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
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